Changes
by Monkey Ninja Naf S'netog
Summary: What if the Uchiha clan wasn't destroyed? What if Sasuke's brother never existed? How would the storyline change? What would be the changes in Naruto? How would this change make a difference?
1. Prologue

Hello! This is dedicated to anyone who wanted to see a fic like this. Anyway, it's spring break and I felt like making a fic that interested me. I lack detail but bare with me and tell me how to improve. I could be wrong about the detail part but I dunno! Anyway, here goes.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter one: Prologue.

Naruto walked along a path towards a bridge in his home village. The blonde had decided to look around his village after his breakfast. He walked to the middle of the bridge, expecting to be alone. He looked to one side of the bridge and saw a pink haired girl. She was sitting with her legs hanging off the bridge, hugging one of the wooden posts. She seemed to be... crying. He sat beside her and looked over at her face. Her eyes were closed and tears were pouring from them. Her hair covered her abnormal sized forehead.

Naruto blinked, she must not have heard him sit next to her. "Hey, girl, what's wrong?" he asked. The girl opened her eyes and looked at him. She stared at his whisker markings, and blinked the tears out of her eyes. She wiped her tears away and looked away from him, "Go away..." she said miserably. Naruto opened his mouth to speak but then he closed it.

Naruto looked down at the river flowing under the bridge in the direction behind him. "It's a nice day..." he said, hoping she'd talk to him. She didn't respond. He thought for a few minutes. "Your hair is pretty." he said looking over at her. Her head was still turned. He closed his eyes thinking. He opened his eyes ad looked at her again, "Why were you crying?"

She looked over at him, "Because everyone makes fun of my huge forehead!" she screamed, burying her face in her hands, sobbing. Naruto wasn't sure how to react to this. He had never been in a situation like this. Not many people wanted to be around him. He didn't know the reason why, but he just thought he might have smelled funny or something. He patted her on her shoulder, "It's not _that_ big. Heh... I kind of think it's cute..." this didn't seem to help the poor girl.

She pulled herself away from him and stood up. She looked down at Naruto and realised who he was. She was told not to ever be near him or be nice to him if possible. She didn't know why, but she had thought it was for good reason. She thought he was nice but he must be very bad for her own parents to tell her that. She gave him a quick small smile then turned away from him and walked away.

Naruto just sat there in a daze. It was rare for anyone to smile at him. This bit of kindness made him think even higher of the girl. He smiled and looked down at the water. He couldn't stop thinking about her. He stood up deciding to go home. '_I hope I see her again soon...'_ Naruto thought. He walked away from the bridge thinking of the short time he spent with the pink haired girl.

He was nearing the Uchiha compound, when he saw a dark haired girl outside of the gates with another Uchiha. She was talking fast to the other, who was a boy. Uchiha Sasuke and his sister. Naruto only recognised Sasuke because he had once played a prank on the boy, which resulted in a bloody nose. Naruto stopped about ten feet away from the two, staring at them wishing he had a family.

He looked at his feet, sadness seeming to creep over him. He had always longed for a mother or father, brother or sister, or all four. He just wanted someone in his life. He looked back up at hearing someone coming towards him. It was Sasuke's sister. She had noticed him looking at the ground, seeming like he was alone in the world, which was quite true. When he looked up se stared at the whisker marks on the boy's face. They were the cutest thing on a boy she's ever seen!

Her brother was calling out to her and Naruto just stood there looking at the girl. Her onyx eyes stared into his electric blue. She smiled at him, "Hi! I'm Uchiha Kanami, what's your name?" she asked in awe, staring at his whisker markings. "N-Naruto." he replied, feeling self concsious now that she was staring at him. All of a sudden, Naruto found himself in something that he was not used to, a hug. She was hugging him, unknowingly making him feel whole, if only for a few seconds.

She let go of him and was smiling at him. "I think you're cute" she said with a slight blush. Naruto turned a little red. She heard her brother yelling, trying to tell her that it was time to go inside. She smiled at him and said simply, "Bye, I'll see you some other time." Turning away from him, waving back at him as she ran towards her brother. Naruto had suddenly felt like he meant something to someone. He was only five years old but it made him feel cocky and confident.

He made his way towards his home, thinking of the strangest but best day he ever had. He smiled to himself as he entered his home, ready for bed. He may have no parents or family, and the people that gave him supplies and had helped him since he was a baby didn't think of themselves as a family to Naruto. In just one day he had managed to meet two people that smiled at him. Tommorrow was his first day to enter the academy to learn to become a shinobi. He hoped they would both be there.

Yo! Great, horrible, pretty good? I dunno, review and tell me. Kanami is not there for the soul purpose to be with Naruto but to be a twist to my unkown plot. It'll all come together. Anyway review me and tell me what you want to see happen in the fic or tell me how to make it better. First reviewer gets a prize! Er... well, not a prize, but will be important to me because they were my first reviewer. Tell me of mistakes I made and how to make the fic better or more fluent. Tell me what I lack in the detail area too. Thanks for reading!


	2. A day with Kanami

Here's the new chapter. I hope it's better than the last one. Ok here goes!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter two.

Naruto had awoken thirty minutes after his alarm had went off and classes start in fifteen minutes. He was dashing around his apartment, trying to get drssed, but kept tripping every few seconds. The things scattered around the room kept somehow getting in the frustrated blonde's way. He couldn't be late again, Iruka-sensei would kill him! He had finnaly got dressed, mostly, and locked the door as he dashed out.

Jumping on the rooftops as fast as he could towards the academy, while pulling his orange jacket over his blue undershirt, Naruto knew the bell was about to ring. He yelled out in frustration and tried to push his chakra into his feet. It helped a little and the academy was only a few houses away. He pushed his chakra down and jumped as hard as he could towards the building. He shot through the air at the academy trying to figure out how to land. He suddenly flipped in the air and land at the door on his bottom.

He shook his head and threw the door open and rushed down the hall to his class room. The door swung open and he came in just as the bell rang. "Ha ha! Yeah! I made it! Take that Iruka-sensei! Yeaaah!" he exclaimed proudly. Iruka just shook his head,"Take a seat, Naruto, so we can start class." "Naruto-kun! Here, I saved a seat for you!" someone said from the middle section, third row. The twelve year old looked up to see the Uchiha girl waving at him and motioning him to sit next to her. He smirked, and walked up the steps to his seat.

He sat down next to her, not noticing someone from the upper left was staring at him, and as usual the girl intertwined her arms with his right. She hugged his arm and rested her head on his shoulder. "Naruto-kun, sorry about yesterday. I was headed over to our sparring area when I suddenly realised that I couldn't train with the clothes I had on, so I went home to change but then-" Naruto had just remembered about her missing their sparring match. He smirked and turned his head away from her pretending to pout."Aww, don't be like that, Naruto-kun! I promise we'll spar today and I'll let you win this time!" At this Naruto's expression dropped, then he smirked and leaned back in his seat. "Ha! This time will be different, I've gotten stronger since last week!" he exclaimed.

"Yea right, Naruto-kun, I can beat you in a sparring match with my eyes closed!" she said, enjoying his expression between embarrassment and frustration. She snuggled her head into his arm, knowing he was about to protest.

"Kanami-chan, today we'll have to see about that now won't we? I'll show you! Then after the match, when I win of course, you have to buy me as much ramen as I want!" he said confidently, imagining hundreds of bowls of ramen floating in front of him. Kanami just nodded, confident that she would win anyway. "And when I win, you have to eat only veggies for a week!" she giggled as his expression spaced out at the thought of no ramen for a week. His confidence returned to his face, and he opened his mouth to say something when Iruka spoke up before he could, "Naruto, Kanami, as fascinating as your conversation is, it would be nice if you... would pay attention to my lesson!"

"Now, as I was saying, we will be practicing henges today. You will all line up and one by one and you will perform a henge to appear to be an identical copy of me. If you can not do it on your second try, you will stay after class and practice it. Now, line up." Iruka said, looking at Naruto. Kanami had let go of Naruto's arm and followed him to join the line of students. Hinata was at the back, behind Kanami. Kanami was hugging her Naruto-kun from behind and resting her head on his shoulder, whispering into his ear. Since the start of the academy Hinata had a crush on Naruto, she admired the confidence he had in himself and admired the way he never gave up. Hinata stared jealously at the back of Kanami's head.

Sasuke performed the henge perfectly and walked to the back of the line, glaring at the back of Naruto's head. When Naruto was six years old, he had made a bet with Kanami that he could trick Sasuke into kissing a fish. Well... with a few henges and a dark room, Naruto had somehow pulled it off. It was a blurry memory to Sasuke but it still made him mad that he fell for it somehow. Sasuke didn't care that Kanami liked Naruto. Naruto was just an aggravating pest that was only there to anger him in Sasuke's eyes.

Naruto's turn was nearing, and he knew exactly what he'd do the first try. Naruto just kept moving up the line, and listened to what Kanami was whispering to him. She was taunting him about the henge that he was going to perform. She had learned over the seven years that he was going to mess up the first time trying to be funny. She never liked to see him mess up and make himself look stupid so she always tried to taunt him so he'd do better and stop acting dumb. "I'll show you! I'll make this henge even better than Sasuke's!" he muttered. Kanami smiled, he had fell for it. He stepped up in front of Iruka, smirking confidently. He formed a seal and he was instantly covered in smoke. When the smoke cleared, there he was. There was nearly no difference in their appearences. "Very good, Naruto." Iruka said proudly, he truly thought Naruto was going to mess up or try and be funny.

Naruto turned normal and stood there scratching the back of his head, grinning proudly. Naruto walked to the back of the line and Kanami soon followed, after performing the henge. Hinata did the henge easily and walked to the back of the line. "Good," Iruka said, looking down at the chart he had made, "you all got it right on the first try. Okay, you can return to your seats." After everyone had gotten settled, ready for the rest of the lesson, Iruka looked at them all and smiled. "Pop quiz!" he exclaimed happily, hearing their groans.

After class, Naruto headed to a training area to wait for Kanami. Naruto stopped, there was someone hitting the training dummy. He walked forward to get a better look, it was a girl. She had blue hair, and she stopped punching the dummy. She was wearing fingerless gloves with metal on the knuckles for more damage and to protect the user's hand. She looked over at him and hid halfway behind the dummy. "Hey, you're that girl that sits at the top left seat in class. You're always so quiet... What's your name again?" he said, scratching his head trying to remember.

"H-Hinata. H-Hyuuga Hinata."

"Oh, hey Hinata! Why are you here? Why are you training by yourself?"

"I-I don't u-usually ha-have a sp-sparring partner..."

"Maybe when Kanami-chan gets here we can all three spar?"

"Th-that would b-be great..."

"Are you okay? Why are you turning red? Are you hot? Maybe you should take that jacket off."

Naruto looked at her and was about to go check on her when he found himself held from behind. "Oh, hey Kanami-chan! Would it be okay if Hinata spars with us today?" Kanami just snuggled her head onto his shoulder, "Aww, but I wanted to be all alone with my Naruto-kun..." then she put on her cutest pout. He smiled, knowing she was only playing. "I-It's o-okay... I'll l-leave..." a downcasted Hinata said. Naruto looked up quickly at Hinata who was about to turn to leave, "Hinata, she was only kidding! You can spar with us, c'mon it'll be fun!" Hinata turned her head to look at Naruto. She saw Kanami still pouting on his shoulder and stared jealously at her. She shook her head sadly and walked away through the trees.

Naruto stared in the direction that Hinata left, confused. "I wonder why she left... Oh, well, why waste time? Time to earn some ramen!" Naruto stepped away from Kanami and turned around, "Ready Kanami-chan?" he smirked. She nodded and positioned herself into an odd, original taijutsu stance. Naruto charged at the girl, hands balled into fists. He was throwing rapid punches at her, which she fluently dodged. He crouched down and sprang up, swinging around to kick her in her face. She ducked down and as his foot swept above her head, Naruto twisted his body to be above her. He brought his foot down swiftly to kick her in the back of her head but she was quicker. Before his foot could make contact she had placed her hands on the ground and brought her feet off the ground, shoving her body off the ground and her feet collided with his chest. Naruto's eyes widened a little at the impact and was sent away from Kanami, landing on the ground and skidding across the dirt.

Kanami was back on her feet, a safe distance away from Naruto, in her original stance. One arm was at her side and the other arm was stretched at Naruto, hand balled into a fist. Her feet were placed even with her sholders. One foot pointed towards Naruto and the other pointed in front of her. She stood at an angle towards Naruto, not completely turned towards him. To many, this stance was foolish and no good, but it seemed to work against Naruto, and worked well with Kanami. She smirked at him, "I guess that ramen will have no one to eat it tonight. Giving up already, Naruto-kun? I thought you were stronger?" Naruto stood up and just smiled, brushing dirt off of his clothes.

He charged at her again, clenching his fists. He threw a punch at her stomach but she stepped back easily and poked him in his side. He spun around, putting out a leg, getting closer to the ground during the spin. He attempted to sweep her legs up from under her but she saw it coming and jumped. Before she could land back on the ground again, Naruto threw himself up at her, poking her once on her tummy. She had quickly reacted by putting a hand on his shoulder and fluently jumped over him, twisting around in a sweep kick that he jumped over, landing behind her.

He smiled, "See? I told you I got stronger!" She only smiled and quickly got up and turned around. "I went easy on you." He frowned. He stepped back, "Yeah, well, I went easy on you too!" When she was in her stance he went at her full speed. His arm pulled back, he dashed at her with increased speed. He threw his fist forward at her tummy, which she knew was too swift for her to dodge, so Kanami had blocked with both hands and was surprised when the force actually knocked her off her feet. Before she could recover, Naruto slid behind her and snaked his arm around her waist and jerked her sideways. He had her pinned down on the ground on her tummy. He smirked, he had a foot placed on her back and was standing beside her, "I told you! I knew I could do it!" She just smiled and turned her head so she could see him, "Okay, okay. I'll buy you some ramen!"

After Naruto's fourth bowl of ramen at Ichiraku's, he had decided he was full. It was nearing dark and Naruto was walking Kanami home, explaining why there was so many flavors of ramen and why they were all great. She was again hugging his arm and listening to every word he said. She saw her home nearing and sighed. "Thanks again for the ramen, Kanami-chan." Naruto said as they neared the Uchiha compound's entry gate. She just nodded and smiled. She turned to him when they reached the gate. "I had a good time sparring, Naruto-kun. Next time we spar, I'm gonna win for sure!" He smiled, "Oh, I forgot..." He leaned forward, his face becoming closer to hers. Kanami's cheeks were becoming warm. His face was so close she could feel his breath on her lips, then he leaned back and smiled. She hadn't noticed something had been put around her neck. She looked down and raised her hand to raise the metal to her face. Dog tags. She looked puzzled then read what was engraved in the little tags of metal. One of them had Naruto's name on it and the other had her's. Naruto showed her that he was wearing the same thing around his neck.

She knew it was definately something Naruto would give as a gift, and she cherished it. It wasn't jewellry, which wouldn't be appropriate for a ninja to wear, but it was a gift that came from the heart. "It's perfect, it won't reflect light and it won't break easily. I thought if we both wear it, we'll always be friends and never forget eachother no matter what. I hope you like it, it's not something many girls would want as a gift..." he trailed off at the end. She smiled and hugged him, "It's perfect. Thank you, Naruto-kun." She smiled and entered the gate and walked up the path towards the Uchiha clan's home. Naruto smiled to himself and started towards his home.

Sorry for the short chapter last time. I'm not good with openings. I'll try to make the chapters longer as I go. Anyway, thanks for reading and review please. Oh and if you're wondering, Sasuke and Kanami are twins. Kanami was born first by a minute and a half.


	3. Graduation and Jounin Kakashi

I aim to make this chapter longer than the others. I'm working on this late and I hope to finish soon. If i still get reviews I'll still write.

Chapter three.

Another day, another chance for Naruto to become the top ninja in the village. He smirked at the mirror as he put the goggles on his head. He looked down at his hands and made them into fists. Today was the day! Today he would become genin, he could just feel it. It was going to be his third try but he was ready. He smiled down at his fists then sat down to pull his sandels on. He locked the door as he stepped from his apartment. He had made sure he'd be awake for this.

Walking on his usual trail, without jumping on rooftops for a change, he could smell the fresh morning air. It was the perfect day for him to become genin, the weather was right, he was walking towards the academy early, and he was totally riled up for it! After all, he was best in the class. Yep! No one can ever beat Uzumaki Naruto! He smiled, imagining Sasuke on the floor holding his hand out to Naruto for forgiveness and admittting he was the better shinobi.

Naruto walked along through the village, towards the general direction of the academy, passing many houses and shops and villagers, trying to avoid eye contact with them. The village always gave him cold stares, never showing him any respect. He wish he knew the reason, but knowing he didn't irritaded him to no extent. He sighed as he just walked, hoping Kanami was already at the academy. He never got up this early just to get to the academy. This time was certain, he could feel the forehead protecter on his head already... forgeting that he had goggles on his head. He could see the academy, nearing it with every step. He stopped at the entrance and stared at the door. He was a little nervous, he thought of failing... again, then tossed the thought aside and walked in.

Naruto walked down the hall, heading for the classroom. Once in the class, Naruto took a seat at the top row, middle section, noticing he was alone. Kanami-kun would soon come, and Sakura-chan... he hadn't thought of her much since she had went head over heels for Sasuke... Naruto leaned forward and rested his arms on the wooden table before him, and his head on his arms. He was tired from being up nearly all night, and then waking up so early. He yawned, and snuggled his head into his arms. His eyelids slowly drooped, then fell. He was out like a light.

Soon after Naruto fell asleep, Hinata walked in and began walking up the steps to the top left seat. She looked up and saw Naruto asleep and blushed. Only the sight of him made her cheeks warm, and she smiled a small, soft smile to herself and took her usual seat. She would have sat next to her crush, but she couldn't even work up the courage to do that. She just settled for her usual seat, and admired him from afar. She layed her head on her arms like Naruto and positioned her face to rest in the direction of Naruto. She wondered how long he's been there sleeping, and why he was early for once...

Kanami walked in with two of the other Uchiha girls, Sasuke trailing behind them. Kanami left the other Uchihas and sat next to her Naruto-kun. She put an arm around him and lay her head on his back, enjoying his warmth. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the time before class started with her Naruto-kun. The final exam to become a genin wa today, and she hoped with all her heart that Naruto was going to become genin. She believed in him, but she knew he was weak in some areas. She sat up straight and stretched her arms above her head. Kanami looked down at Naruto, thinking of how cute he was when he slept. She put on a kind smile and tapped Naruto on the shoulder, "Naruto-kun, wake up. The exam will be soon." His response wasn't what she had expected, he only sat up for a few seconds and looked in Kanami's direction without opening his eyes. He yawned, seemingly not awake, and scooted himself away from her. When he was enough distance away he turned to his right, putting his legs on the wooden seat, Kanami to is left. He lied back and his head rested on Kanami's lap, his body now in a more comforting position. Kanami just blinked, not knowing what to do. More people were entering the class, and she just sat there with Naruto's head resting in her lap. Unkowing to Kanami, she was getting jealous stares from a blue headed kunoichi from her left. Kanami smiled a soft smile, and moved hair out of Naruto's face. She looked down at his face, looking at his whisker marks. She brought a finger to his face and ran her finger along each line of the markings.

More students came, and nearly everyone was here. Iruka came in and waited for the bell to ring by reading a chart and marking attendance. Kanami didn't want to, but she had to. "Naruto-kun... You have to wake up now." she said softly, tapping him on his shoulder.. "C'mon, Naruto-kun, it's time to wake up." she leaned forward and tapped him on his shoulder again. She opened her mouth to say his name again, but her mouth was instantly covered by his. He had sat up too quickly without opening his eyes and when he attempted to sit up, his lips connected with hers. It seemed this had caught everyone's attention, especially the blue haired girl who had been watching the whole time. Hinata's eyes had widened at the sight of this, and time seemed to have frozen. Neither had pulled back due to confusion or enjoyment, or possibly both. Hinata suddenly had tears in her eyes, but buried her face in her arms before anyone could see.

When Naruto had finnaly opened his eyes, he saw someone's shut eyes and felt a pleasant sensation, almost like electricity, surging through his body. He blinked a couple of times and pulled his head back, he needed to breathe. His gaze was still upon the face of the person he had just kissed. Her eyes slowly opened and met his, both staring into eachother's eyes. "Naruto-kun, the exam will start soon" Kanami said, almost like nothing had happened. Naruto blinked and rubbed his eyes, then sat up yawning. He looked around and saw many heads just now turning away from him, and turned their attention on Iruka. Naruto sat the way he was supposed to and looked at Iruka, mind still buzzing from what had just happened. He noticed Kanami blushing, but she had her attention on Iruka.

"Okay, as you all know, today is the final exam. When your name is called please follow me into the next room. Okay, first, Aburame shino. Follow me." Iruka said then turned towards a door in the room connecting to another room. Iruka, followed by Shino, dissappeared through the door into the room. Iruka came out frequently to call the next person in aphabetical order. The room was emptying faster than Naruto wanted it too. He was nervous and his stomach had a weird sensation that didn't help. Soon the Uchihas were being called. Two Uchiha girls had gotten up and left already and next was Kanami.When her name was called, she stood up and looked at Naruto with soft eyes. She put a hand on his shoulder and he looked up at her, "You'll do fine, Naruto-kun." She smiled and walked down the steps and dissappeared through the door.

Naruto sighed,his turn was near. Sasuke left. Naruto was called. Naruto stood up and walked down the steps, feeling as if he wasn't inside his body anymore. He walked through the door and stood in front of a table and Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei were sitting behind the table, which had rows of forehead protectors on it.

"Okay, Naruto, to become a ninja and wear this forehead protecter, you must do the Bunshin no Jutsu. Okay, create at least two clones." Iruka said, looking at Naruto. Naruto just nodded, believing he could do it. He closed his eyes and made a seal, "Bunshin no Jutsu!" he yelled, and a clone had appeared on the floor... pale and sickly looking. Iruka's eyebrow twitched. "Fail!" he roared at Naruto and the clone dissappeared. "Argh...!" Naruto said as he fell over, onto his back.

"Iruka... This is his third time, and he does seem to want it very badly... Perhaps if we pass him he'll work hard and make the Bunshin no Jutsu better. He had the basics down..." Mizuki implied. Iruka shook his head slowly, "The other students had made at least three clones and their clones didn't look nearly as pathetic as his. He can't pass if he can't even master this simple jutsu. I'm sorry, Naruto. You'll have to try next time." Iruka said, looking at Naruto.

Naruto sighed as he sat on the swing under a tree near the academy, watching everyone with their families. Mothers and fathers were congratulating their children, and telling them how proud they were. Naruto groaned, and felt uneasy. He was always a failure... How could he even think he would pass? He was so stupid... Naruto looked at the ground wishing he had a family now more than ever. He looked up and saw Kanami hugging her mom with a proud grin on her face. Naruto's eyes fell again on the ground and he watched a caterpillar move across the grass. He looked up, he was sitting with one leg on each side of the swing holding the rope in his hands.

"N-Naruto-kun... A-are you o-okay?" a small voice managed to say. He recognised the voice as Hinata's. He looked down, "Yeah... just perfect..." Hinata didn't seem to know what to say to him a this point. She pulled up all the courage she had and took a small step closer to him," M-Mizuki-s-sensei w-was looking for you... H-he said th-that h-he had a w-way for y-you to pass, N-Naruto-kun" she managed to say. His head snapped up and he looked at Hinata. "Really, Hinata-chan? There's a way I can still pass?" he asked excitedly. She just nodded, her mind repeated his words over and over. He hastily tried standing up from the swing, but tripped. He stood up and hugged Hinata "Thank you, thank you, thank you, Hinata-chan!" he nearly yelled and Hinata was blushing madly, nearly about to faint. He was instantly gone to find Mizuki, leaving Hinata there blushing but smiling. She hoped Naruto would be able to pass.

Later that night Naruto had found himself walking through the house of the 3rd Hokage. He was headed to the specified room Mizuki had told him about. "Naruto, why are you in my house?" a voice said from behind him. Naruto froze and turned his head slowly,"Err... Sexy no Jutsu!" "Waaahhh!"

Naruto hopped through the trees towards a place where he could practice the jutsus in the scroll. The scroll was strapped to his back and it wasn't very heavy so he made it to the place he was told about fairly quickly. He was near a shack surrounded by trees. This seemed to be the right spot. He sat down and opened the scroll to see the first jutsu... The Kage Bunshin. "Awww, crap! Why the hell does the first one have to be the one I suck at!"

The ANBU, Chuunin, and Jounin were looking for Naruto, hopping around the Village and outside of the village quickly to find him. There was no luck. Iruka had thought of checking the woods and so he did. When he had found Naruto, Naruto was panting and his clothes were tattered. His body seemed to have been damaged a little.

"Hey... I found you!" Iruka said, staring down at Naruto with a slight grin. Naruto looked up and smiled, then scratched the back of his head. "Oh, hey Iruka-sensei! Now I can show you this new super cool jutsu I just learned and pass the graduation exam! That's how it works, right? I learn a jutsu from this scroll and I pass, right? Well, I dd it! Now I can become a genin and work my way up! Old man Hokage better watch out, 'cause here I come!" he shouted with a grin. Iruka stared down at thee boy. '_He's been out here practicing a jutsu from the scroll? He says he's mastered one... Can that be true?_' Iruka looked at him about to ask where he got the scroll when shurikens and kunai had rained down at them. Iruka grabbed Naruto's collar and threw him out of the way and turned around to try and block the weopons. He was pushed up against the shack by the force of the weopons. Several were embedded in his arms and legs. A kunai was also sunken into his ribs.

Naruto looked at Iruka, shock in his eyes. He looked up in the direction of where the shurikens and kunais came from. "M-Mizuki-sensei?1" Naruto shouted, staring up at Mizuki. Mizuki looked down at Naruto and smirked," Hello there, idiot. Thanks for bringing the scroll. Now give it to me like the good little idiot you are. If you don't..." Mizuki trailed off, gesturing his head to a nearby tree. Naruto looked at where Mizuki indicated, and his eyes widened. Kanami and Hinata were both tied together on a tree, they seemed to be unconcious. "Wh-why are you doing this?" Naruto asked, staring at Kanami and Hinata. Mizuki laughed a harsh laugh, "Because I, like everyone else in the village, hate you! Have you ever wondered why they gave you cold stares? Why they hated you so much? Well, I'll tell you why..." "No! Don't do it!" Iruka yelled desperately. Mizuki lauged harshly again, "You are the demon fox that killed Iruka's parents! The demon fox that destroyed the village, the same fox that everyone hates! Everyone hates you Naruto! Everyone you think that likes you are only lying! Everyone deep down inside hates you! Even your precious Iruka-sensei hates you! There was a law passed that silenced everyone from talking about it, to protect you. Bah! It didn't help, did it? The parents of your so called 'friends' have warned them about being near you. Your generation may not know it, but the people who fought the demon 12 years ago all know. They hate you, Naruto! Hell, deep down inside those girls over there probably hate you too!" Naruto had angry and sad tears in his eyes, his chakra shot from his body and he was trembling with a mix of anger an sadness.

"Naruto-kun, don't believe him! I don't hate you, and neither does Hinata! Iruka-sensei doesn't hate you, please, Naruto-kun, don't believe Mizuki!" Kanami said desperately, hearing all of what Mizuki said. She had always loved Naruto's whisker markings and now knew why they were there. She looked at him, hoping he'd find comfort in her words. He just clenched his eyes shut tight, and his chakra flowed around him.

"Give me the scroll, fox. If you do not cooperate I will kill your little girlfriends and your precious Iruka-sensei! But either way, you will die for sure. Just hand me the scroll and let me kill you, or I'll take the scroll and kill all of you. The village will be much happier knowing your dead, fox!" Mizuki said with a confident smirk. Naruto opened his eyes and everything seemed to slow down. Naruto's eyes showed hatred and anger mixed with loneliness and despair. Naruto launched himself from the ground at Mizuki, his fists clenched tight. Mizuki was surprised at this movement and didn't have enough time to pull out a kunai before a fist collided with his face. Mizuki was sent backwards, off the tree. Mizuki was merely one yard in the air away from the tree before Naruto was above him, his foot raised high and his back was facing the ground. Naruto was on the left side of Mizuki, slamming his foot down into his gut as hard as he could. Mizuki's eyes widened at the pain and was sent hurling towards the ground. Naruto was instantly below Mizuki, his hands above his head on the ground supporting his body up from the ground, pointing his feet straight up. Mizuki's back was nearing Naruto's feet quickly and he had turned his head to see Naruto. If his back made impact with Naruto's feet it could be all over. Mizuki managed to twist around in mid-air before impact, resulting in crushed ribs and extreme pain.

Naruto's eyes still showed no mercy as he kicked the man high into the air and pushing himself upwards and landed on his feet. He formed a seal, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he cried out, forming a hundred clones. Blood came out of the sides of Mizuki's mouth, he could barely breathe. The clones all glared at Mizuki from every direction, all of them pulling out shurikens and kunais.

Hinata had awoken at the time to see Naruto make the clones. She was in shock. Was this really the Naruto she knew? Naruto would never be this rutheless... would he? Was this the same Naruto that couldn't even make a successful clone? Was this the gentle, caring, and nice Naruto that she had come to admire? And why was she tied to a tree next to the girl that took away any chance with Naruto from her...? Hinata shut here eyes, not wanting to see Naruto kill Mizuki.

"Stop, Naruto-kun! Please, do not let him tell you what you are! You are not a merciless demon fox! You are my Naruto-kun, not a monster!" Kanami yelled, on the verge of tears. Every Naruto had their eyes on her. Mizuki had now loss his upward momentum and was now falling to the ground. Hinata's eyes opened and she looked over at Kanami, who's tears now dripped off her face. Hinata looked at the Naruto's and saw they only looked at Kanami. Her head hung and she stared at her feet. She wasn't worth looking at and she never made a move to tell Naruto of her feelings. She sighed. Kanami deserved Naruto, it was her that never hesitated to express how she feeled...

Mizuki had now hit the ground, coughing up blood and writhing in pain. The clones dissappeared in a puff of smoke and the real Naruto jumped up onto a tree then onto a branch of the tree Hinata and Kanami were tied to. He cut the ropes with a kunai and they both pressed their feet to the tree and jumped off before they fell. Hinata landed near Iruka and helped him stand. Kanami landed in a different tree and jumped back to the tree Naruto was still standing in. Naruto looked at her and hugged her, "Thank you,Kanami-chan... I would have been a monster without your help." She smiled and hugged him back, resting the side of head on his shoulder.

On his way home, Naruto walked with Iruka, talking about what had happened. At the door of Naruto's house, Iruka had asked him to close his eyes. "But why, sensei?" he asked confused. Iruka chuckled, "Just do it, Naruto. You'll be happy you did." Naruto blinked but then did as he was asked. A minute later Naruto still had his eyes closed, "Can I open them yet, Iruka-sensei?" "Yes."

Naruto opened his eyes, and looked at Iruka confused. He stared at Iruka's smiling face, but knew something had changed. His eyes traveled up to his forehead. "Hey, Iruka-sensei, where's your forehead protecter?" Iruka smiled widely and put a finger to Naruto's forehead but Naruto didn't feel his finger but only pressure, "Right there, Naruto... You pass!" then Iruka held up Naruto's goggles. Naruto's eyes watered with joy and he launched himself onto his sensei, "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto yelled with joy. "Ow, naruto that hurts!" Iruka said, amused by Naruto's reaction.

The next day, Naruto got up and walked to his dresser. He looked down proudly at the forehead protecter he had recieved from Iruka-sensei. He smiled proudly and placed it perfectly on his forehead. He headed out the door and locked it like every morning. Today he was going to be assigned his team. Today he was going to get stronger, he's gonna do his best and most of all... he's going to be team leader! He walked through the village towards the academy, sporting his head protecter proudly.

Once at the academy, Naruto surprised many when he walked in, showing off his head protecter proudly. He strutted to his seat next to Kanami who, as usual, entertwined her arms on his right and lied her head on his shoulder, smiling. Iruka entered the class and looked at his students proudly, "Everyone of you passed and now you all get your teams! Okay, since half of you are boys and half of you are girls... We will have teams of four. We can't be having unstable teams and we need to have both boys and girls on each team! There are 24 of you so it goes out evenly. Once we have the teams called out, you will take an hour for lunch break. I encourage you and your team to eat together and get to know eachother. Now, we tried our best to get the teams even and it is traditional to balance best with worst..." When Iruka said this Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he looked at Naruto "... so it balances out. Since we have four man teams this year you will be required to do missions faster without much complication. Okay, with that said, I will now give out the teams..."

Naruto had listened to most of what was said but when he heard that the best was with worst he looked around to see who he was stuck with. He wondered who was the worst in the class so he could pinpoint who he was stuck with. He kept this train of thought as the names and team numbers were called out.

"Okay, team 3; Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke..." Naruto looked over at Sasuke, amazed that Sasuke was one of the possible three that were the worst. "... Uchiha Kanami, and last is Hyuuga Hinata." Naruto blinked, Kanami and Hinata both were on his team. He smiled to himself. So Sasuke was the worst...

"Team 4; Haruno Sakura, Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji, and Nara Shikimaru. Team 6; Inuzaka Kiba, Aburame Shino, Uchiha Keiko, and finnaly Uchiha Yukina. Okay with that said, your lunch hour starts now. Be here in an hour to meet up with your Jounin." and with that said, Iruka left the classroom.

"Isn't it great, Naruto-kun?" Kanami screamed, squeezing his arm tight, hugging it. "We're on the same team!" Naruto just smiled and nodded. Many other teams were leaving to have lunch, leaving team 3 and half of team 4 in the room. Naruto looked over at Ino and Sakura trying to get Sasuke to eat with them. Sasuke smiled and refused then stood up. He came over to Naruto and Kanami, standing on their left side. Hinata walked over to them, hesitantly, and stood at the right.

"Well? Are we gonna have lunch, or what?" Naruto asked, thinking of ramen. He looked up at Sasuke then turned his head towards to Hinata and smiled at her, making her blush. Naruto already knew that Kanami would agree to nearly everything Naruto wanted to do so he was mainly asking the other two of the team. Naruto was still looking at Hinata, making her blush deeper. Kanami looked up at Hinata and frowned, seeing her blush just because Naruto smiled at her. Hinata nodded slowly, agreeing with Naruto. "Whatever..." came the words of Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto's smile widened, "Okay! To Ichiraku's then!" were the words of the hyperactive ninja before jumping onto the desk, causing Kanami to let go of his arm. Naruto smiled and turned his head, "I'll lead, seeing as how I'm best in the class and team leader!" at these words Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Naruto.

"You idiot," Sasuke started with a condescending look, " you were the worst in class and your definately not team leader! If anyone is to be team leader, it is me! I was the best in class, dobe." Naruto turned on Sasuke with his eye twitching and a scowl on his face. Noticing there was about to be a long protest and arguement, Kanami had decided to manipulate Naruto into forgetting about it.

"You know, Naruto-kun, an hour isn't long to have lunch, now is it?" She smiled, "I mean... we gotta get to the ramen shop and get back, and eat in between that time. Isn't it wise to be leaving now before we run out of time?" The plan was a success he was instantly at the door, calling out for them to hurry up. Kanami smiled to herself, she was probably one of the few people that knew Naruto very well, but anyone could manipulate him to think of his stomach first.

Naruto and his team were still waiting on their jounin an hour after everyone had left. Kanami continualy tried to get Naruto to sit down and wait patiently but he couldn't stay in his seat for a minute before yelling about the jounin's tardiness.

"I'm gonna get that guy!" Naruto yelled as he jumped from his seat to the front of the room. "I'll show him, this'll teach him for being late!" Naruto grinned as he grabbed a chalkboard eraser and walked to the door. "N-Naruto-kun... I don't th-think th-that a j-jounin will fall f-for that... " a small voice said as Naruto opened the door slightly and set the eraser on top of the door. Naruto shrugged, "I don't care, but there is the chance that we get a stupid jounin and he does get hit with it." Kanami just sighed and shook her head, _'Naruto will never change... Oh well, it's one of the reasons I like him!' _

Naruto walked away from the door and turned towards it fully, waiting. He crossed his arms and tapped his right foor on the floor repeatedly, just as impatient as ever. Sasuke just sat at his seat, staring at the door, seeming to wait patiently. Naruto looked at the door and smirked, he heard footsteps coming from outside of the room. The door slowly opened and a head poked in the door. The chalkboard eraser fell on his head then fell to the floor. Naruto roared with laughter and Kanami giggled silently.

The masked jounin walked into the door with a layed back posture. Only one of his eyes could be seen, the other eye was covered by his forehead protecter. The visible eye was lazy and the man looked at all four of them. "My first impression of you four is... Your a bunch of idiots." the jounin's words struck them all and Sasuke turned an accusing glare at Naruto. Hinata just looked downcasted and stared at the floor. Kanami shook her head with a smile, "What kind of jounin falls for that? It seems like your in no position to call us id-" she stopped her words as she saw the man's gaze. He shook his head slowly and motioned them to follow him.

He led them to the roof of the academy and leaned on the railing on the edge. The four genin sat in front of him and looked at him, not speaking a word. He observed them, their clothes and, based on their facial expressions, the moods they were in. He stared at each one of them, trying to predict who they were. He started his gaze at his right, Hyuuga Hinata. She seemed to be a shy, quiet girl that never liked to cause anyone pain emetionaly or physicaly. She wore a white jacket and a blue T-shirt under that, he could see the T-shirt from under her jacket at the neck. She wore blue pants that stopped at just above her ankles, and sandels. He looked at her closely and noticed her stealing glances at Naruto. Her index fingers was pressed together, which seemed like a habit of hers.

Next was Uzumaki Naruto. Kakashi looked at the boy and noticed he couldn't sit still for very long. His attire mostly consisted of orange with some blue. The blonde boy looked like an idiot by wearing such bright clothes and trying to call himself a ninja. He noticed that the boy was wearing dog tags around his neck. Kakashi sighed and looked at the girl next to Naruto. Uchiha Kanami. Dark black hair, onyx eyes, and a smile that seemed to never come off her face. She wore a dark blue T-shirt with the Uchiha emblem on the back. She had on simple dark blue shorts with many pockets. Bandages wrapped around her left thigh and a shuriken holster strapped around her thigh on the bandages. She was hugging Naruto's right arm and seemed to get tired of the silence because she had started whispering in Naruto's ear. He also noticed she was wearing dog tags too Next was Uchiha Sasuke. He wore a dark blue shirt with the Uchiha emblem on the back and grayish shorts, with a shuriken holster on his right leg. He seemed deep in thought, and didn't really show any facial expressions.

Kakashi looked at the group as a whle now, "Okay, let's begin with some introductions. Hmm... Starting from my right. Just say things like... Hmm... your likes, dislikes, dreams, hobbies... Stuff like that. Oh and your name." He looked at Hinata, waiting for her to speak. " I-I'm H-Hyuuga Hinata... I like flowers and I don't like people who look down on others and call them failures... I-I don't r-really have a ho-hobby b-but I do like h-helping people... I dream o-of one d-day being a-acknowledged by m-my f-father as a s-skilled n-ninja..." She stared at her feet, pressing her index fingers together the whole time she said this. Kakashi nodded and looked at Naruto, " Okay, now you."

Naruto grinned widely, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I love ramen! Hmm.. I dislike waiting the three minutes after putting the water in cup ramen. Hmm.. My dream. Heh, I wanna become hokage some day and show everyone what a great ninja I am, so everyone will stop disrespecting me and look up to me as the greatest ninja ever! My hobby is to... Hmm... Heh heh, to make Sasuke kiss fish!" at the end, Naruto burst out laughing, remembering the prank he pulled on Sasuke when he was six. Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he glared ay Naruto. "Dumbass..." Sasuke muttered. Hinata giggled silently and Kanami's smile remained the same. Kakashi almost laughed himself. "Okay, now you, Miss talk-too-much."

Kanami's smile stil didn't fade, she looked at Kakashi with a twinkle in her eyes. "I'm Uchiha Kanami, I like my Naruto-kun," she hugged Naruto's arm a little tighter at this and smiled at him" I dislike people who are mean to my poor Naruto-kun, except for my bro of course, I'll always love him." Kanami smiled at Sasuke and he looked away, a bit embarrassed. "My obbies are to spend time with my Naruto-kun and train with him. Hmm... Dreams. I dream of helping Naruto-kun to becoming hokage and marry him when we are older..." she blushed at this but her smile still never faded. '_So... basically her life revolves around Naruto...'_ Kakashi thought before looking at Sasuke, "Okay, and now you."

" I am Uchiha Sasuke. I like to spend my time training to become the best in my clan. I dislike the thought of my sister being with such an idiot... My hobby is to learn new jutsu and try to help the younger children in my clan train. My dream is to one day become leader of my clan and master the sharingan." Sasuke said simply. Kakashi nodded, this was almost what he had expected to hear from the four of them.

"Hey hey hey! What about you? We introducted ourselves so now it's your turn!" the hyperactive blonde said, staring at Kakashi. Kakashi shrugged, "Okay. I am Hatake Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you my likes or dislikes. Hmm... Dreams of the future...? Hm... Well I have many hobbies..." Naruto stared at Kakashi, "Hey! You only told us your name!" Kakashi smiled. "Okay, tommorow we start our duties!" Kakashi said, looking at them all. "Oooh! What kinda duties? Are we gonna go do some way cool ninja stuff?" Naruto nearly yelled in excitement. "Well... Survival training. You trained at the academy but this won't be normal training. I'll be your opponent. Oh, and I'm going to tell you something that you might flip about but... Heh heh... Of the 24 graduates... Only half become genin. So only 3 teams pass."

"What!" Naruto yelled, Hinata seamed to be more downcasted than ever, Kanami's smile seemed to fade a little and Sasuke just stared at Kakashi. "Then what whas the point of the graduation exam!" Naruto yelled in frustration. "Oh... That. Heh, it was only to select those with the chance of becoming genin. Anyway, you'll be graded on the field. Bring all your shinobi tools and skip breakfast... you'll just throw it up."

'_I can't fail here... No! I'm gonna kick Kakashi-sensei's ass! I have to... I just have to!' _ Naruto thought as he stared at his feet. Kakashi handed them each a printout that explained all the details. Kakashi looked at them before walking away, "Don't be late."

That night, Naruto had a big teddy bear hanging from the ceiling by a rop above his bed with appearances like Kakashi's.'_And when he comes at me I'll do this! And I'll throw a punch here! And he'll throw a kick with his right leg... And then I'll dodge and then... I'll kick him in the jewels!'_ Naruto fell backwards onto his bed and fell asleep later that night.

The next day...

Naruto had a heavy back pack on his back, Hinata had a back pack sitting next to her, Sasuke had a bag hanging at his right side, hanging from his left shoulder, and Kanami was sitting under a tree, with a bag sitting in her lap similar to Sasuke's. They were all waiting for Kakashi to show up. He was late...

"Hey guys! Good morning!" kakashi called out, walking towards them. "YOUR LATE!" screamed Naruto and Kanami. Kakashi shrugged and set an alarm clock on a tree stump, "Okay, it's set for noon." They all four looked puzzled. Kakashi held up two bells, "Your task is to take these bells from me before noon. Whoever does not get a bell before noon will not get lunch..." Kakashi looked at the four and saw that they all had the same expression, showing that they were tricked "So this means that two of you will definately be tied to a stump. Hmm.. and also... The two that doesn't get a bell... fails. So, at least two of you will be sent back to the academy. You can use any weopon or tool that you brought with you. You will not succeed if you do not intend to kill." Hinata looked up at her sensei, pressing her index fingers together, "B-but K-Kakashi-sensei.. You'll b-be in d-danger i-if we d-do that..." Naruto smirked and wrapped his arms behind his head "Yeah, Kakashi-sensei! You're so slow you couldn't even dodge a chalkboard eraser! We'll kill you!" Naruto laughed.

'_Calm down... Calm down...'_ Kakashi thought, "Well.. in the real world, those with no talent bark the loudest. Eh, Mr. Dead Last?" Naruto's eyes hardened and 'dead last' repeated in his head, "Grrr..." Naruto quickly pulled a kunai from it's holster with his middle finger and spun it on his hand and grabbed it, pointing it downward. "Grr! I'll show you!" Naruto raised the kunai in his hand and made to dash at Kakashi. Hinata gasped and Kanami quickly glanced at Naruto, with a worried look. Instantly, Kakashi was behind Naruto, holding Naruto's own hand behind his head, the kunai pointing at the back of his head. Naruto's eyes looked to the side, trying to see behind him. "Slow down.. I haven't even started yet" Kakashi said, looking down at Naruto's head.

_'Wow... i didn't even see his movements...' _Naruto thought. His teameates had similar thoughts. Kakashi looked at each of the genin, "Well... looks like your ready to come at me intening to kill. So.. You've finally acknowledged me, eh? Heh heh... I think I'm begining to like you guys." he said and ruffled Naruto's hair. "Okay... ready... Start!" and the 5 jumped away.

Kakashi looked around, '_Hmm... The basics of ninja is to hide yourself well.. Hmm.. looks like they have that down.' _ "Come and fight me!" Yelled Naruto, not that far away from Kakashi. "Err... Your a little bit off, huh?" "Hmph.. The only thing a bit off is your haircut!" roared Naruto as he jumped at Kakashi. Kakashi reached into a pouch at his hip and Naruto stopped. "Ninja lesson number 1... Taijutsu. i'll teach you about it." Kakashi said, pulling out his book 'Come Come Paradise'. Naruto's face looked puzzled," Eh?" Naruto said, completely confused. "What's wrong? Come get me all ready." Kakashi said, looking into his book. "Huh? Why do you have a book!" Naruto asked. "Because I want to see what's next... Anyway, don't worry about it. It won't make a difference against you guys." Naruto clenched his fist and glared at his sensei.

"Grr...!" Naruto dashed at his sensei, then jumping up, throwing a kick at his sensei's head which was blocked by Kakashi with one hand. He didn't even look up from his book. Naruto twisted his body around and tried to punch him, but his fist was caught. Naruto brought up his knee and tried to nail Kakashi in his side but his fist was still caught and he was thrown back. Naruto landed in a crouch and formed a hand seal, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A clone formed at both sides of Naruto. They threw thimselves at Kakashi, with a single kick Kakashi had sent them all flying. The clones dissappeared in a puff of smoke and Naruto landed on his knees, clutching his side.

Hinata was watching the fight and once she saw Naruto hit the ground, clutching his sides in pain, courage and anger bubbled up inside her. Simultaneously, Kanami and Hinata jumped from their hiding places at Kakashi. This took the man off gaurd for a second before he had regained his cool. Hinata attacked with Juuken and Kanami was throwing punches as fast as she could. Kakashi was block Kanami's attacks while dodging Hinata's from behind. He jumped high in the air, not noticing someone was high above him. Naruto was above Kakashi, his foot raised high in the air. Kakashi turned his head to the side when he saw the two girls looking above him. He quickly twisted his body around, becoming parralel with the ground. Naruto brought his foot down as fast as he could but it was too late. Kakashi had kicked Naruto on his but and sent him high into the air. When the kick landed, he had sent himself down faster than intended, head first. He turned his body so hi feet were toward the ground, he landed ten feet away from the girls. He looked at them and saw they were looking up. Kakashi looked up too and could barely see Naruto. "Uh oh... Maybe I over did it.." Then many clones formed in the air, they all grabbed eachother's feet and the real Naruto was at the end. They all threw eachother down, It was raining Narutos! Kakashi had let his guard down and had barely dodged swift kunais and shurikens coming at him in two directions.

Sasuke was now out of his hiding spot and now engaged in a taijutsu match with Kakashi. The two kunouichis had now joined in the taijutsu match with Kakashi. Kakashi had now had to look up from his book to keep from getting hit. He almost considered putting the book away. He jumped over a sweep kick from Sasuke and put his foot on his back, pushing himself off of Sasuke and Sasuke hit Hinata, they both fell into an akward position, with Sasuke's face under Hinata's chin, and his legs were on either side of Hinata's lap. He immediately pushed himself off of her, feeling his cheeks become a little warm. Hinata's face was completely red. Kanami was still fighting Kakashi, holding nothing back. She threw hard fists at his face which were quite fast, he had managed to dodge and block her punches but she then hopped from the ground and nearly landed her knee in his stomach. He had managed to backflip away from the attempted blow, then he felt a pain in the back of his head and the force of what caused the pain made him fall forward. '_I completely forgot about Naruto!' _Kakashi thought, wondering how he had forgotten. He looked around, ther was Naruto's everywhere. Hinata was in her Juuken stance and Sasuke was ready to attack again. Kanami had put herself in a strange stance. Kakashi turned his head and saw Naruto standing behind him grinning. kakashi smiled under his mask. "You all pass."

"Huh!" were the words of the four genins simultaneously. Naruto's stomach growled and his clones dissappeared. "The trick was to see if you had teamwork. No team can do anything unless they act like a team. The two bells were to pit each of you to try and get the bell for yourself. Naruto had attacked first and I easily was able to knock him away, but while doing so I had 'accidently' hurt him I guess..." kakashi looked at Hinata then Kanami, "And you both cared enough about your teamate to jump in. While you to were fighting me you actually forced me to create distance between us. Naruto had then once again tried to land a blow on me but was sent in to orbit... Heh heh... Then Sasuke jumped in and you all three fought me, it took a while for Naruto to get buack down even with the help of his clones. He picked the ight time to jump in and landed a blow. You all had very good teamwork. You pass." Kakashi said, innerly proud. The four genin smiled.

Naruto let out a groan as his stomach growled loudly. Hinata looked at Naruto, concerned and Kanami giggled silently. "Oksy, you guys can eat now. I wouldn't want you guys to die of hunger out here... I'd have a lot of paperwork if that were to happen." Kakashi said, earning narrow eyed glares. He waved his hands in his defense, "It was only a joke. Heh heh... Anyway tommoerow, team 3 officially starts it's duties! Okay! Let's go." Kakashi began walking away and the four genin followed.

The four genin walke through Konoha proudly, Kakashi had told them thay were the first to pass his test. The four stoppped in front of the Uchiha clan's entry gate. Kanami hugged Naruto then looked at Hinata, she took a step towards hinata and hugged her. "I know you like _my_ Naruto-kun. He's mine. If you try and take him away from me... Be prepared to fight. But don't take this offensively, I'm not a mean person..." Kanami whispered in Hinata's ear, and pulled away from her. She held Hinata's hands in hers and smiled, "Hinata... I like you, and I do think we can be friends. We'll work well together in our team and take care of the boys, 'kay?" Kanami smiled. Hinata only nodded, a bit confused. Sasuke and Kanami entered the gate and walked past many shops and houses. Naruto looked at Hinata and smiled, making her blush,"Where do you live, Hinata?" "Um... I-I live n-not t-too far from h-here, N-Naruto-kun... You d-don't have to walk m-me h-home..."Hinata said, pressing her index fingers together. Naruto smiled and shook his head, "Nonsense! We're teamates now! We need to get to know one another better now, right?" Hinata smiled and looked at her feet.

They began walking towards the Hyuuga clan's home. Naruto hummed tunelessly and Hinata walked beside him silntly, pressing her forefingers together. "Hm? Hinata, why do you do that thing with your fingers?" "H-habit, I guess..." Naruto continued walking and looked over at her, flashing a foxy grin, "It's cute and all but.. Isn't there a reason why?" Hinata seemed a little shocked and she stopped walking. Naruto turned around, "Is something wrong?" Hinata repeated Naruto's words in her head over and over. '_He... He said it was cute...? He said... Cute? Maybe... there is a chance with him...? No.. He said my stupid habit was cute... Not me...'_ Hinata thought then looked up at Naruto, "O-oh... N-no, everything i-is f-fine." Hinata said, starting to walk again.

When they had reached the Hyuuga clan's home Naruto smiled and said goodbye to Hinata. Hinata had managed to say goodbye to and Naruto left. Naruto had replayed his whole day in his head. He had another friend. He smiled to himself as he entered his apartment and turned the light on. He ate 5 cups of beef ramen with veggies in it. He yawned and fell into bed for a night's rest.

_'Heh... Friends... I'm not totally alone anymore...Heh... Friends...Me... Family...? Dreams... Reality... Fate... Destiny...? Even with Kanami knowing of the nine tails... She still likes me... I'm not alone... Never again...? I now have something to live for, something to protect... Something to die for...? **Something to kill for!**' _Naruto snapped awake at hearing a voice that was not his own, his dream interupted by that voice. Was it the monster inside? Naruto lied back down slowly, his heart racing. His memories became a blurred vision in front of his face...then all of a sudden time slowed down.

_Naruto was walking across a grassy plain, flower petals blowing past him in a warm breeze. Kanami-chan was standing a few feet away from him with a smile on her face, holding a baby to her chest. She was about 20 and Naruto was now taller and older too. Naruto wallked over to Kanmi and smiled. Time stopped and everything seemed to rush behind him. Blurs of colors flew past him and he was now a small boy standing in front of a ferocious fox. The fox growled at him and Naruto stared at it. The fox seemed to be in a barrier preventing it's movements. Naruto screamed and everything rushed forward, the blury colors sped around Naruto like a tornado. Naruto was standing in front of Hinata at present time. She smiled at him and her forefingers pressed against eachother. Her lips were moving but Naruto could hear nothing. He took a step forward and their bodies were close together. Naruto leaned forward and the gap between them was slowly decreasing, his face nearly touching her's. His lips nearly made contact with hers and everything froze again. A rush of wind swirled around Naruto, everything dissappeared and Naruto found himself in front of a huge fox again, this time there was nothing holding the fox. naruto reached for a kunai but the fox was fast as lightning and the fox instantly brought his head down to eat Naruto. Then... Total darkness engulfed Naruto. The dark was so dense Naruto could almost feel it. Naruto couldn't breathe and all his senses were stripped away. He was thundering through the village, swiping his massive claws at buildings, crushing houses, smashing monuments. Naruto looked down at ninjas trying everything they could to stop the destruction. Naruto let out a low laughing growl. With one powerful swipe most of them were dead. One stood before him and he hated this man the most. Naruto attacked and the man had preformed something terrible, all he could feel was darkness and pain. He was bound by something and could see he was in a cage. He let out a low growl and cursed the world._

_Naruto shot up from his bed and looked around him, the room had white walls and there were no windows, the room was bright and had one door that was steel. Naruto looked down and saw he had grown claws, there was something strange... an aura was swirling around him. He jumped onto one wall and then kept opping around the room growling and beating on the walls. He did this for an hour and finnaly sat on the bed, exhausted. The room looked like it had went through hell, the door was beaten to near destruction, the walls were beaten badly and were crumbling. Massive destruction of the room had satisfied Naruto somewhat. the aura disipated and Naruto fell back on the bed. He looked around not knowing what had happened or why he was there.The Hokage entered the room accompanied by many ANBU members and jounins. He looked at Naruto, concerned. "Naruto... Do you remember anything that has happened since you went to sleep?" the Hokage asked urgently. Naruto shook his head. The Hokage looked at the floor, "I thought not... Naruto, the Kyuubi had somehow influenced you... Don't worry though, no one was hurt. Naruto, if you wish to continue to be a shinobi of the leaf you have to learn to control the Kyuubi. You might have been dreaming or something had happened to you but the Kyuubi will not rest quietly in you. He does have chakra in you and if enough of it is released you will be influenced. Hmm.. No matter, you will be killed or you will be contained here until you die... Naruto, you are never going to see the light of day again!_

Naruto woke up sweating. "Wha... What the hell!" Naruto shook his head, trying to clear his mind. '_What the hell was that?'_ Naruto thought.

**_'That was me! Now you know a little bit more of how it is to be me and a little bit more about yourself!' _**A harsh voice yelled inside his mind,laughing madly afterwards. Naruto ignored it and shook his head in attempt to lose all thought and fall into a sleep.

Hmm... I've had 55 hits total. 5 reviews... 3 favs. And 9 alerts. Doesn't make sense to me but I'll keep trying to improve. Ok thanks for reading, now review please. I still need help on improving and tell me what you think should happen in the storyline.


	4. Wave Country

I need to explain some things I guess. It will be eventual Naru/Hina. Naruto has changed his attitude a bit because this is MY story. Naruto wouldn't have admitted or noticed about Hinata's finger thing in the anime/manga, I know. But this is my story and I'll write it how I see fit, besides, Naruto ha changed because he met Kanami and he noticed it because he was curious. Naruto's dream was from his subconscious or whatever it is and the Kyuubi, I just thought I'd say that. One can't control dreams and one mostly can't remember them well either. Hmm.. oh yeah, and I'm just trying to show Kanami's affections. Anyway, here goes.

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto

Chapter 4.

Naruto yawned as he sat up from his bed. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and pulled off his animal night cap. He blinked his eyes to get rid of the blurriness and looked over at his clock which read 9:30 a.m. His eyes were only half open and he got up from his bed and walked into the bathroom.

An hour later Naruto walked along a path towards a bridge Kakashi had told them to meet at. He arrived second, Hinata was there first. "Oh, hey, Hinata, where're the others, do you know?" Naruto asked, looking up at each end of the bridge. Naruto looked at her and she blushed, shaking her head. Naruto crossed his arms and stared at the end of the bridge he came from. He yawned and blinked a few times, his eyes now only slightly opened. '_Stupid night... If i hadn't been waking up all night sweating I might not be so damn tired...'_. He yawned again and he looked over at Hinata, noticing she yawned after him. '_Aha! So it's true... It is contagious!'_ H made himself yawn purposely, just to make sure. His yawn was long and satisfying, making his eyes water. He blinked the water away and noticed Hinata yawned again, almost as long as him, and brought her arm up to her face, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. Naruto smiled and looked back at the end of the bridge, waiting.

Naruto was half asleep by time Kakashi had arrived. He was sitting at the edge of the bridge, leaning against one of the pillars that the railing was attached to, and barely aware of the world around him. When Kakashi had finally got Naruto's attention he was drenched in water. "Wha-whaaat!" he yelled hopping around the bridge, gasping at the affects of the freezing water. Hinata stared at Naruto, not approving of the tactics that her sensei uses but staying silent. Naruto glared at his sensei and pointed an accusing finger, "What the hell Kakashi-sensei!" Kakashi smiled under his mask and waved a hand for Naruto to drop it.

"Kanami and Sasuke are out training with their clan for a week, so... We have to train and do missions by ourselves. Naruto, I'm expecting you to pick up the slack with you're Kage Bunshins, and no fooling around. Hinata, same for you, we have to train hard and do missions as if we still had a full team. Okay, first you two will spar and get to know each other's fighting style a little better. I'll teach you two how to walk on water next and then when you've mastered walking on water we'll start missions. Now, we'll head to training area 32. Let's go!"Kakashi started walking off and his subordinates followed. Naruto glared at his sensei's head as they walked, still cold. Hinata pressed her forefingers together as they walked and stared down in front of her feet.

Hinata looked up when she noticed someone walking closely next to her, Naruto. He leaned is head in close to hers, making her blush a deep red, "Hey, Hinata, since we are going to be training and doing missions together by ourselves for a while how about we promise each other to get stronger than Sasuke before he gets back from training? I know we both have potential of great things! If we surpass Sasuke together, it'd be way easier. It's harder to train alone and get stronger. So, wha'dya say?" Naruto asked with a wide smile. "O-okay."Hinata said, still blushing. He grinned and pulled himself back and crossed his arms. '_Sasuke... You're going to eat my dust!'_ Naruto thought confidently. Hinata looked up at the back of her sensei's head, wondering if Naruto had meant that they were weak but had potential. She shook her head and smiled to herself, knowing she'd have to become accustomed with how her teammate spoke.

A week later Naruto and Hinata were kneeling a few feet across from each other in a clearing in the woods at night. The darkness was creepy ad the only light was illuminating from the stars and moon. Everyday of that week Hinata and Naruto stayed after training sessions for training and sparring. They had mastered water walking and completed 13 D rank missions, 5 of them were finding a cat desperate for freedom. Hinata's Byakugen and Naruto's ability with Kage Bunshins were a good combo for the locating missions and Naruto's clones helped a lot when it came to shopping and yard duties.

Both the Genin were panting and exhausted from the busy week. Naruto looked up at Hinata and smiled, "Do you think.. We've... Progressed any?" Naruto said between breathes. Hinata nodded and tried to catch her breath. Naruto stood up and offered a hand to his comrade, "If we keep at this pace we'll be the best Genin yet!" Hinata blushed and took his hand and he pulled her up. Naruto yawned and looked at the sky, "We better get home... Your family might be worried about you." Hinata stared at the ground and shrugged. She was always reluctant to leave the training sessions with Naruto...

The next day, Naruto and his now full team walked to the Hokage's office to receive their mission. Naruto walked with his hands behind his head and he kept glancing over at Sasuke who had a cocky smirk since he came back from his training. Naruto glanced to his right and saw Kanami had a similar smirk. He wandered what could have happened during their training for them to act this way. Naruto closed his eyes as he walked and screwed up his face in thought. '_Maybe they both got abducted by foreign ninja and they brainwashed them to be spies, trying to learn of Konoha's secrets. Hmmm...' _ Naruto glanced at Sasuke, '_Or maybe Sasuke is just being a bastard...'_ He glanced at Kanami, '_But that doesn't explain her smirk...' _He closed his eyes again and thought hard '_Maybe a way awesome new jutsu? Or... Maybe they WERE abducted by enemy ninjas!' _Naruto narrowed his eyes at Sasuke, "I'm watching you." Sasuke looked over at his teammate and raised an eyebrow but classified it as a 'Naruto' thing.

"Okay, we have a few more D ranks left. Grocery shopping... Potato digging... Babysitting... Hmm, take your pick." The Hokage said, looking at Kakashi's team. Kakashi was about to reply when Naruto burst out in protest, " Hey, hey, hey! I want a _real _mission now! If Hinata and I can complete 13 missions in one week when it's just us then why can't we have a better mission with a full team?" His voice was heard even outside of the place, and had a strong, determined tone. Naruto crossed his arms and closed his eyes, determinedly stubborn. The Hokage let out a chuckle as Naruto was bonked on the head by his sensei and Iruka started yelling at Naruto.

"Iruka, the boy has a point... I think they're ready for a C ranked mission now." the Hokage said, searching through requested missions for a suitable mission for Team 3. Iruka nodded and smiled, proud of his former pupils. Naruto blinked, '_The old man actually agreed?' _"Hells yeah!" he shouted, jumping with joy. Hinata stifled a giggle as she watched the hyperactive ninja hopping around, yelling at the top of his lungs. Kakashi grinded his fist into the top of the blonde's head, annoyed with his yelling. Kanami was staring past the Hokage, at the mission he thought they suited. 'A_n old man?'_ Kanami thought to herself, hearing the Hokage's words that their mission was to protect the man. Kanami glanced at Naruto who was now rubbing his head in pain.

"What is this? I'm going to be protected by a bunch of snot nosed brats? And the short one... He has a super stupid look on his face." a man said, drinking from the bottle in his hand. Naruto looked around, "Haha! Who's the short one with the super... HEY WHAT THE HELL!" The blonde jumped up and launched himself at the man, "Bastard, I'll kill you!" Naruto was easily restrained by Kakashi, "And what's the point of killing the man we are supposed to protect?" Naruto growled in frustration, "We'll leave in an hour, we'll meet at the North Gate for departure. bring food, weapons, anything necessary or for 'just in-case' situations. ok, go!"

Kanami and Hinata were first to arrive, Naruto came next, excited to leave. Soon the rest came along. Naruto was hopping around, more hyper than ever. His excitement grew and grew. They left after everyone had arrived, and walked along a dirt path. Kanami walked behind everyone, looking at the trees and sky, seemingly in a daze. Naruto glanced back at Kanami, wondering what had happened during training that made her change. She was less talkative and more distant. She would usually be walking next to Naruto and be clinging to his arm but now she was... so different.

Hinata walked between Naruto and Kakashi, hesitantly asking her sensei questions about Wave country. Sasuke walked behind the old man, Tazuna, in front of Kanami. They soon passed a puddle but the scenery still hadn't changed. Trees to the right, and trees to the left. Blue sky above, brown dirt below. Seemingly endless trail behind them as well as in front. Naruto yawned and looked over at a squirrel hopping through trees, staying beside the team and not stopping. Naruto heard the chinking of metal and quickly turned around but was only in mid-turn before he saw bloody pieces of a body fly by, a gut wrenching scream coming before that happened. Naruto's eyes widened in shock as everything slowed down. Kakashi was gone and two men having gauntlets on the arms opposite of the other man's with chains coming from the gauntlets.

Naruto froze up and before he could even take hi next breath his enemy was behind him. The chains had connected both gauntlets and now the chains were nearly on their next target; Naruto. Naruto closed his eyes and thoughts of certain death clouded his mind. When he hadn't felt anything make contact with him he turned around to see the chains pinned to a tree by a kunai and shuriken but the men were already dashing at Naruto and Tazuna. Hinata and Kanami were both in front of Tazuna in attempt to protect him. Hinata watched in horror as Naruto was slammed against a tree by the force of a blow from one of the enemy. Sasuke jumped in front of his sister and Hinata to hold off the enemy. In a flash Kakashi had appeared in front of Naruto's attacker but wasn't able to grab him because shuriken rained down on him, which he had to dodge. A new enemy was now against them, the squirrel in the tree was now a ninja of the mist that wore equipment all over his body. The man engaged Kakashi in combat. The Chuunin of the mist were now engaged in battle with the Genin of the Leaf.

Naruto was having a hard time, his left arm was bleeding from the shoulder and pain kept spreading from the spot. The Chuunin drew a kunai and launched himself at Naruto, trying to cut him open. Naruto's enemy thrust his gauntlet forward, but Naruto jumped out of the way in enough time and avoided a fatal blow. The tree that was behind Naruto before he jumped now had a rough hole in it. Naruto made 5 shadow clones and disappeared into the trees. Shuriken and kunai pinned the unsuspecting Chuunin to a tree and 5 Naruto's landed in front of him.

Meanwhile, Hinata and Kanami were deflecting shuriken and any other weapon intended to hit the old man they were guarding while Sasuke fought the other Chuunin with the gauntlet on his arm. Hinata's Byakugen was activated and she was able to see any traps or projectiles before they could be of any use. She also kept her watch on Naruto and her sensei. She could see something spreading from Naruto's injured shoulder and knew it wasn't good. Sasuke had now managed to pin the Chuunin to a tree, unconscious, then proceeded to tie him up.

Kakashi had accidentally knocked his opponent out when he dropped his kunai and bent over to retrieve it when his opponent had already jumped at him. Kakashi bent over and the man passed over him, landing on his head, unconscious. Kakashi stood up and turned his head left and right, looking for his enemy. He shrugged and turned around to look at how his team was doing and noticed the knocked-out Chuunin in front of him. He kicked him over and tied him up.

The Genin brought the Chuunin over to their sensei and they tied the three to a tree. Kakashi was saying something about the ninja and their target but Naruto wasn't paying attention. Naruto clutched his left shoulder and winced. The pain spreading from his shoulder was growing more intense. Sweat dripped off of the fox boy's face and he closed his eyes, his vision becoming blurry. He opened his eyes again, seeing a worried looking Hinata staring at him, muttering something to her sensei. Kakashi's visible eye widened and pointed at Naruto, yelling something. Naruto couldn't hear anything but a constant roaring in his head. The blonde took a step back and gasped in pain, his team now surrounding him. Naruto blinked and his pupils became slits. The roar was now angry and violent and Naruto fell onto his back, writhing in pain. It felt as if his whole body was on fire. He clutched his hand on his shoulder tightly. A growl escaped from his mouth as someone pryed his hand away from his shoulder. Naruto's blue eye's were slowly fading into red. His canine's were becoming even more so. Sasuke, Hinata, and Kanami were all struggling to keep his right arm down, Kakashi was doing everything he could to get the poison out.

"K-Kakashi-sensei, w-will N-Naruto-k-kun b-be a-all r-right?"asked a worried Hinata as she stared into Naruto's fierce eyes. Kakashi didn't reply as he was trying to think of a way to save his subordinate. "Hinata! Use your Byakugen and tell me how much the poison has spread!"Kakashi ordered, hoping what he thought was happening wasn't happening. Hinata nodded and did as she was told. Her eyes widened, "I-It h-has spread th-through his t-torso and a l-little u-up his n-neck! B-but some kind o-of r-red chakra i-is pushing i-it back..." she said and deactivated her blood limit.

Naruto growled in pain, his body was burning and something was retraining him. Naruto found himself in a dark, stone corridor with water up to his knees. He looked up into a huge cage that was, without a doubt, restraining something powerful and evil. He saw enormous red eyes in the cage and total darkness.

"**_You idiot, you're trying to get us killed!"_**

"I...I... Huh? Where am I? Where are my friends? What happened to everything!"

"**_I am trying to push that damned poison out of your body, idiot. You damned kid, do you really want to die? Why did you freeze up!"_**

"Huh? You mean my shoulder?"

_**"Guh... What is it with you humans? Of course your damned shoulder!"**_

"Why the hell am I here!"

_**"Because that poison is taking effect of your body and letting my chakra merge with yours momentarily... Thing is, I still can't get out and you're body is being destroyed by that poison. So, if you die, I die. I'm trying to push it back out."**_

"So... You're helping me?"

_**"I have to, to stay alive. In time I will be able to become more free."**_

"So is it working? Will I live? Am I going to die...?"

_**"When you are healed and free of poison you will leave my presence bt still be unconscious. It seems as though my method of getting you fixed is working so far..."**_

"So you're the thing that everyone hates, the reason why I am hated..."

_**"Don't you remember your dream?"**_

"What dream?"

_**"Just shut up, you're voice is giving me a headache. Besides, you're so stupid I can't stand hearing anymore of it..."**_

Naruto opened his eyes and saw a roof. He turned his head and winced. "Ugh... What's going on...?" He was alone in a room that had one window and white walls. There was a chair and another sleeping mat. Naruto slowly sat up and pushed his blanket off. He yawned and looked at a door. '_Where am I?'_ he thought to himself and stood up. He opened the door slightly and peeked through. '_What's Kakashi-sensei talking about? Hunting-nins? Zabuza? 'The hell? Who's that little kid... Hmm... so his name is Inari... What does he mean we'll die if we stay? Is that a threat! Who's Gatou? Ugh... I feel like I missed out on something...' _Naruto opened the door fully when the boy left and walked over to his comrades. "Umm... What happened?" Hinata looked at Naruto, overjoyed that he was okay and tears welled in her eyes, "N-Naruto-kun..."

Kanami jumped up and tackled Naruto, "Naruto! You're okay! You had us all so worried!" The poor boy was in a tight bear hug and could barely breathe. Hinata blinked away the tears in her eyes and smiled sadly, wishing she was the one hugging him. "We have to prepare for a possible attack by Zabuza again... So we will train." Kakashi said, looking at his team. Kanami got off of the blonde and grinned. Naruto blinked, "Wait wait wait wait WAIT! What happened?"

Kakashi sighed, "When you had the poison spreading in your body, your body managed to reject it. We found out a lot about the ninja's objectives and we met up with an even tougher opponent. We had hid you and Tazuna to be guarded by Hinata, who volunteered. With help from Kanami and Sasuke we were able to beat him but... We have reason to believe he may still be alive so we will train..." Kakashi motioned for the Genin to follow and walked out the door.

'_I can't believe I was so stupid... Why did I let myself get poisoned? Why did I freeze up! I swear... By this humiliation I feel right now... That I'll do my best and protect my comrades! I won't let Sasuke beat me, no way! I'll become the best ninja ever! I'll train as hard as I can! Until I drop even!' _Naruto vowed. They walked to the middle of some trees and Kakashi had ordered them to climb the trees without hands. He explained how and demonstrated. He had them use kunai to mark their spots.

Hours later, Hinata sat under a tree, watching Naruto and Sasuke run up trees then jumping off, after marking their spots, when they could go no further. She had gotten the hang of it the first few tries and then finally mastered it. Naruto was ahead of Sasuke because of their chakra control training with Kakashi while the Uchihas were training. Kanami had mastered it first try and was now with Tazuna, in case of attacks. Hinata had also been preparing a picnic for Sasuke and Naruto to give them energy. She poured hot water from a thermos into 7 cups of instant ramen and poured tea from a separate thermos into three cups. She pulled out a box heat enclosed box that kept all contents warm. She set out cups of rice and vegetables. She also had a dish with cooked fish. She set it all out neatly on a picnic cloth and sat at one side on her knees. She called over Naruto and Sasuke, convincing them that they needed to eat to become stronger.

After they ate it started to get dark and Sasuke decided it was time to go back and left. Hinata had gathered everything and stored it all neatly into her backpack. She watched Naruto a little while longer and then became a little tired. She yawned and rubbed her eyes and looked up expecting to see Naruto jumping off the tree. She looked around but didn't see him. She looked up at the top of the tree he was climbing and smiled. His face shined with joy and he shouted out to the trees. Hinata giggled and watched the hyperactive ninja jumping up and down exclaiming how he was 'master of the trees'.

They headed back to Tazuna's house to get some sleep. Hinata thought back on the events that had happened since they left Konoha. '_Maybe I have improved like Naruto-kun? Maybe we'll improve together and then one day I'll work up the courage to...'_ Hinata blushed a deep shade of red, '_Maybe one day I will...'_

Well...How was it? Took my long enough, struggling with writer's block... I find inspiration in music I guess because I always write while listening to something. Anyway tell me all suggestions and improvements I can make. Oh and tell me where you think it'd be good to end or if it could have a sequel or something. If I kept it going forever it wouldn't be too good. I wouldn't want anyone to get bored. Anyway I write for my reviewers and I'll try to add all suggestion. Unless the suggestion is something that's nasty or wouldn't fit at all. A lot of people make Naruto into something he's not and I'm trying to avoid that. Review please!


	5. Memories and Mission Complete

I'll try harder this time and I hope I get more reviews this chapter. Okay, here goes! Enjoy.

Chapter 5.

Kanami woke up the next day and walked to a window, still in her night clothes, and stared out of the window and at the ocean. She had been thinking of her training with her clan ever since she got back. What her father had told her, could it really be true?

_Flashback..._

_Kanami looked at the targets on the trees, all hit dead-center by her shuriken. She smiled to herself, wondering if her Naruto-kun would be proud. She looked around at the others training on targets and the other clan members practicing fire jutsu over by the lake. She walked towards her brother and father where they were having a sparring match. She was surprised to see that Sasuke was holding his own against their father. She stared at her brother as he preformed a fire jutsu and noticed his eyes were different._

_"Sh-Sharingan? But how did he... How did activate it?"Kanami asked herself She watched until the match was over, Sasuke had lost but had put up a good fight. She walked over to them and asked about the Sharingan and how he activated it. "Through training and determination, but you know as well as I do that not all of us have it. So I guess I got lucky that it was passed down to me. You can have it too, possibly. Although... Hmm..." Sasuke looked up at his father, "Has a female of our clan had the Sharingan yet?" Their father shook his head, "I'm not sure, but if they have, it must be on rare occasions... I'm sorry but I haven't seen a female in our clan with the Sharingan." Kanami looked at the ground, "I guess there isn't any hope for me to get it than, even if I am your daughter..." Kanami's father laid a hand on her shoulder, "Never lose hope but... I will give you advice. Train more, become stronger, be determined, I believe the Sharingan is in the blood in every Uchiha, it just takes something to trigger it. But since you are at a disadvantage let me help you train, and let me teach you a new jutsu, the-"_

_End Flashback..._

Kanami's memory was interrupted by a tap on her shoulder from Hinata. A yawn came from behind Kanami, "S-sorry t-to disturb you K-Kanami-san, but w-we have t-to find N-Naruto-kun and S-Sasuke-san." Kanami sighed, "Fine" She walked away to get dressed.

----

Naruto jumped from tree to tree, throwing shurikens at targets he had set around the perimeter. He jumped at high speeds and threw the shurikens at the same speed and didn't stop moving. He jumped down from his last tree and landed in a crouch, panting. '_I promised myself I would train 'till I dropped and I will! I will not be beaten! I will not give in!_

----

Hinata ran through the trees using her Byakugen to look for Naruto, '_Where could he be? Maybe he's training... Oh, I hope you are okay, Naruto-kun...'_ She picked up her pace, just a little bit worried about her teammate.

----

Sasuke lied back on a tree branch lazily, preparing for a long nap. '_Heh, losers. They'll be looking for me and I'll be asleep. Serves them right for not getting up to get me some breakfast.' _Sasuke laughed an evil, weird, and long laugh. He yawned after he got that out of his system and closed his eyes, '_Nighty night.'_

----

Kanami walked through the trees, angry that she had to be up so early to look for her retard of a brother. '_Dammit, he's probably doing this on purpose, he knows I hate to play hide and seek...' _Kanami walked aimlessly now, looking back on her memories. Today had seemed the day to reminisce...

_A four year old Kanami ran through the clan's shops and streets, looking for her brother. Sasuke had decided to 'play' hide and go seek and ran outside. Kanami was running around everywhere in the clan's estate but couldn't find him. She sat in front of her house's door and sobbed, "S-Sasuke... Where are you? Are you hurt? Waaah..." The four-year-old was crying at the doorstep when her brother opened the door. "What are you crying for? Jeez, you're such a crybaby." Sasuke said, rubbing his eyes as if he just got up from a nap. Kanami shot up and tackled her brother in a hug, "You're okay! Oh Sasuke, I thought you were..." "What are you talking about? I was taking a nap, I just wanted some quiet so I told you I'd go hide and you'd find me." He pushed his sister off and stood up. "Y-you... Grr... I ran around everywhere for hours!" She tried to punch her brother but he stepped to the side and she fell down "Ha ha." He walked away. She sat there on her knees and clenched her fists, angry at her brother..._

Kanami rolled her eyes, she was such a crybaby back then. '_Dammit, Sasuke, you better not be sleeping because if you are...' _She shook her head and sighed, '_Stop whining, when you find him just bring him back and don't worry about it'_ Kanami looked back on her times with Naruto...

_Kanami was kicking a ball around, playing by herself. She had wondered away from her home and was kicking the ball anywhere she liked. She was five now and her parents were too busy to play with hr at the moment and Sasuke was practicing throwing shuriken. She kicked the ball too hard and it shattered a window and it was followed by shouts from an angry child. A blonde headed boy jumped out of the window, holding her ball and was looking right to left for the person responsible._ _"Grrrr, who did it?" he yelled, his eyes tightly shut in frustration. Kanami took a step back, ' It's that boy from last week? Yeah the whisker boy... Where's his parents? Shouldn't they be angry to?' Naruto growled to himself and kicked the ball as hard as he could into the air. He jumped onto his roof and waited for the ball to come back down into his range. The ball was falling fast and the angry blonde jumped into the air and roundhouse kicked the ball with as much force a he could exert. The ball zoomed past many houses and then out of sight. "My ball! Hey, why'd you do that you meanie!" Kanami yelled at Naruto. Naruto flashed a fox-like grin and pointed at her, "Because i knew whoever did that to my window would protest as soon as I got rid of the ball and it worked! Okay, now fix my window!" Kanami crossed her arms and turned her head away, "No."_

_Naruto jumped down from his roof, "Why not? You broke it, so you fix it!" Kanami shook her head. The hyperactive blonde screwed up his face in thought, "You look a little bit familiar... Do you ever go to a ramen shop?" Kanami ignored her question and 'hmphed'. Naruto was always ignored so he didn't find what she was doing unusual, so he just went on, "Do you live near here? Or... Hey, do you go to the academy?" Kanami was a little bit mad that he couldn't remember her from a week ago. She nodded after his last sentence but still looked away with her arms crossed, silent. Naruto smiled and nodded. "I knew it! You must be one of those Sasuke lovers..." Kanami's eyes opened wide in surprise, and immediately her fist had popped him in the head, "You idiot, he's my brother!" A big bump formed on Naruto's head and fumes of anger were coming from the little girl. "But wouldn't that be really nasty?" Naruto asked while rubbing his head. Kanami's left eye twitched and a big bump formed on top of the first, "What are you, stupid!" "Ow ow ow ow ow!" Naruto cried out, rubbing his head furiously. Kanami had continually hit him on his head. "Stop it! Sorry, jeez. It's not my fault you like your brother!" Naruto said and backed away as she swung her fist at his face. "I don't like my brother like that!" She screamed. Naruto looked puzzled but his face was still screwed up in pain. She had now felt guilty and sorry for the boy. She looked through the window that she had broken, no one had come out or said anything but him. 'Does he live alone? Where are his parents?' She thought. Naruto looked at her and when she looked back at him he winced, thinking she was going to hit him again. She looked into his eyes and could tell that there was deep pain hidden beneath. "Don't you have a family?" she asked and he looked away. "No... But who needs one anyway..." He remembered who se was now, her arms were wrapped around him and he felt the same thing he had felt a week ago. "I'm sorry I hit you. I didn't know, you must not know much about how families are. Aren't you ever scared?" she said and let go of him. He shook his head, "Never, why would I be scared? I'll be the greatest ninja ever and no one will ever mess with me again- err, I mean never mess with me!" Naruto yelled out at the sky but she could tell he was alone and never had anyone to care for him. "I can get my dad to fix your window."_

Kanami sighed and stared at the sky. '_Why is it that when humans are younger they can connect with other humans more easily? Why do we lose that trust and ability as we get older? I guess it's because we change and you can't trust just anyone...'_ Kanami had gotten to the place they were training at yesterday and looked around. '_This place looks a little bit familiar? Yeah.. I think this looks like the place where Sasuke and I used to play tag...'_

_Kanami and her brother were running through the woods in a training area, playing tag. A seven year old Sasuke jumped out of a tree and landed in front of his sister and placed a finger on her forehead. "Haha! You're it!" She lunged forward in an attempt to tag him back but missed because he had managed to slip away. She ran past trees and training dummies, Sasuke was barely ahead of her until he tripped over a tree root and landed on his face. Kanami set her foot on his back, "Hehe, I win!"_

Kanami looked up into the trees and saw her brother lying on a branch, fast asleep. She smiled to herself, '_I knew it!'_ She jumped from branch to branch until she landed near his head. She nudged his shoulder with her foot, "Get up sleepy head. Time to go do whatever for whoever during whenever." Sasuke groaned and rolled over, thinking it was his bed, and fell from the tree. Kanami was surprised at his recklessness and threw a kunai at him, catching his shirt and pinning him to a tree, "Phew... That was close!"

Sasuke finally woke up and noticed he was hanging by a kunai to a tree. He looked around and noticed his sister. He looked puzzled but pulled the kunai out and jumped from the tree to the ground. "Come on, we gotta head back to the old man's place and hope that Hinata found Naruto." Sasuke shrugged, "Whatever. I need to eat some lunch anyway... hmm, did you pack any food?" Kanami started walking, "Nope." "Dammit."

----

Hinata found an exhausted and unconscious Naruto under a tree and was worried. She sat on her knees beside him and held a hand above him, wondering if she should touch him or not, wondering if she _could_ touch him or not. She settled for poking him with a stick for about five minutes before she tried to wake him up. After the poking with the stick wasn't helping she poked him on his shoulder with her finger, hoping he'd wake up.

----

Kanami and Sasuke sat outside of Tazuna's house drinking water from some canteens, waiting for their teammates to return. Sasuke was narrowing his eyes at everyone that passed by. Kanami rolled her eyes and stared at the sky and found herself thinking of her father...

_"I don't think Kanami is training enough. Kanami and Sasuke are to be the clan's leaders and since she is older she should be the strongest of the clan." her father said, sitting at a table drinking tea with her mom. An eight year old Kanami had just returned home from the academy and was going to her room when she had overheard her parents talking. She stood outside of the door and listened._

_"But she is just a child, she will train more as she becomes older. Don't worry, she will be strong." her mother said and sipped tea from her cup. Kanami stood frozen to the spot. "I don't like how she is so distant from her clan. She only sticks around with her brother and that blonde boy. She needs to train more... like her brother. Her brother's goal is to be head of the clan, to master the Sharingan, he's dedicated to his clan. I'm just a little bit concerned, that's all..." "Concerned of what? That she'll be weak or fail on missions? Don't be, she'll be strong." Kanami looked at the floor and silently walked to her room to think on what her father said._

Kanami looked over at her brother and rolled her eyes, he was setting traps around the door an sat down holding a nearly invisible line, "Naruto hates waiting on people and so he shouldn't be doing the same thing, I'll teach him a lesson." Kanami shrugged, "It's not gonna work, Hinata will be with him when they return, she'll see it immediately." Kanami heard her brother muttering and she smiled as he took un-did the trap. Kanami thought back on times that Sasuke had used traps on her. She had mostly noticed them but he still had gotten her a few times...

_A 9 year old Sasuke looked down into a hole he had dug a while ago and smiled at his sister, "I got you, I got you!" Kanami glared up at him and winced, her ankle was hurting badly after she fell. Sasuke smiled evilly, "Now I get to train with dad since you won't be able to make it! Haha!" he walked away, "I'll come back later for you, though."_

_Kanami shouted loudly, trying to get him to come back. Kanami sat in the dirty, dark hole and sighed in defeat. She waited for about an hour and still no one came. 'Maybe he forgot? Ugh.. I'm gonna get him back for this!' she thought and rubbed her sore ankle. She looked up about ten minutes later because she heard loud shouts of laughter, "That'll teach you to make fun of me behind my back, you bastard!" Naruto walked to the side of the whole and then looked down, "Eh? What's this? Oh well, I gotta pee..." Naruto said, about to take care of business in the hole. Kanami looked at him and started shouting for him to stop, "Naruto, stop! Stop, and help me out, pleeeease! My jerk of a brother trapped me down here and I think I sprained my ankle..." Naruto kneeled beside the whole and looked down, "Hmmm... Hehe, I'll help you out but you have to start training with me more, 'kay?" She nodded and tried to stand up but fell back down on her butt. Naruto jumped down into the hole and looked at her and grinned widely. He kneeled down on his knees with his back to her, "Here, I'll carry you." Kanami nodded and put her arms around his neck and he lifted her up and supported her by holding her legs. She laid her head against the back of his neck, and blushed slightly. He jumped out of the hole and walked back towards her clan's home..._

Kanami smiled to herself and closed her eyes, thinking back on her memories with Naruto. '_Has time passed that fast? It seems like just yesterday that we were still ten and going around the village, looking for new things to do... Like the time we helped that Inuzuka guy find his dog when he was stolen by a little orphan boy... Hmm, time goes by too quickly. Where is Naruto and Hinata? Jeez, they're taking forever!"_

_----_

Hinata had fainted when Naruto had sat up too quickly and lost his balance and fell on top of her. Her face was completely red and shock was written all over her face. Naruto was carrying her on his back, making his way toward Tazuna's house, confused. Hinata opened her eyes slowly and blinked, not knowing what was going on. She fainted again when she realized Naruto was carrying her. Naruto picked up his pace and looked at the trees and wondered why Hinata found him and then fainted.

----

Kanami was now so bored that she was half asleep, looking back on her memories of Sasuke and Naruto fighting or arguing. Kanami yawned and closed her eyes, thinking of a small fight her brother and a certain blonde boy had.

_Kanami walked outside early in the morning, woken up by shouts coming from outside of her house. Kanami was now eleven years old and had grew closer to Naruto over the years. She hid by a crate that was near and watched the two boys argue. "She's my sister and I'll say what I like, dobe!" "Well your way of thinking needs to change because you can't go talking bad about others even if you are related!"_

_"How would you know, idiot, you don't even have a family!"_

_"... Just shut up! You're lucky to have a family and you have no right to talk bad about them! Besides, you're sister isn't weak! We train a lot and she always beats me!"_

_"That's not saying much."_

_"SHUT UP!"_

_"MAKE ME!"_

_"Fine, I will!"_

_"Good, go a- ghaa!"_

_Sasuke was sent back a few yards by Naruto's fist and his nose was now bleeding. "Take that you jerk!" Sasuke sat up and wiped blood from his nose onto his hand. The Uchiha genius stood up and performed a couple seals, "You'll pay, dobe! you'll be put in your place for ever messing with my life and my sister! Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Sasuke inhaled deeply and placed his fingers near his lips and blew out a large fireball at Naruto. Naruto stood there, shocked and tried to jump out of the way but wasn't going to make it all the way out but Kanami had reacted quick enough by using Kawarimi no jutsu to replace herself with Naruto and Sasuke immediately stopped but the flame kept going and she quickly replaced herself again with a chair. Naruto stared at the chair as it was engulfed in flames. He looked over at Sasuke, surprised at the jutsu he just used._

Kanami looked over at her brother who was now bored to sleep, '_He was just in a bad mood that day because Naruto had pulled a prank on him in class... Oh yeah, I just remembered, Naruto told me about a kid named Konohamaru before... I wonder who the boy is. I'll ask him to take me to see him some time...' _She saw her teammates coming but saw that Hinata was being carried by Naruto and got a little bit jealous. She waved at them and stood up, stretching, "Hey Naruto-kun! What's wrong with Hinata? Is she okay?" Kanami asked, just noticing an unconscious Hinata. "Eh? Oh... Nah, she's okay... I think. She must have been tired or something." Naruto replied and stopped in front of Kanami, "We should set her inside and let her rest." Kanami nodded and opened the door for him. Naruto walked to the room Kanami and Hinata were staying in and set her on a sleeping mat. He kneeled beside her and wondered if she'd be okay. He shrugged and put a blanket over her, in case she got cold and walked out.

Kakashi had the three conscious ninja train their chakra control more and taught Sasuke and Kanami to walk on water. Three more days of training went on and their chakra control had excelled significantly. Hinata's Juuken was more effective and the two Uchiha twins' fire Jutsus were more controlled and didn't exhaust them as much as before. Naruto's shadow clones had taken less effort to create. the team was considerably better now that their chakra controlling was better.

Naruto had met up with a cute 'girl' in the woods when he was out all night training and had helped 'her' pick plants for medicine. He was later told before 'she' left that it was actually a he...

Naruto and the rest of his team sat down for a dinner and Naruto was exhausted from training all night and day. The little boy, Inari, had dubbed their efforts useless which earned loud and taunting protests from Naruto. Inari ran out crying and Naruto left to get some sleep. Kakashi left to go talk to Inari and the other genin left to get some rest.

The next day, Naruto woke up around noon and yawned. "Hey...Huh? UGH!" Naruto dashed from the room and slid on a floor and fell on a floor, he landed in front of Tazuna's daughter, "Wow, you're already awake? You're team left you here to rest and went ahead to the bridge. You're sensei wanted you to rest--" "Aaaargh! I knew it! They left me!" Naruto dashed away to try and get dressed as fast as he could. He put his close on wrong so he had to do it again...

Naruto dashed out of the room, finally dressed properly. He was just about to jump out of a window when he heard a scream coming from the kitchen. He silently snuck up to a corner and looked in on the kitchen, '_What are those men doing with Tsunami? Inari! He's crying...' _The men left, laughing at Inari as they passed him. Inari stood up and a look of determination was on his face when they left. He clenched his fists and ran out. Naruto silently followed Inari until he caught up with the two samurai. Inari was attacked but Naruto used Kawarimi to replace him with a log and while they were distracted, saved Tsunami. The two men glared at Naruto and were about to launch an attack when ten shadow clones came up behind both of them, kicking and punching any place they could reach. Naruto smiled down at Inari, "Good work1 Sorry I was a little late though... but heroes usually show up at the last second! Inari looked up at him, surprised

Naruto rubbed the little boy's head and smiled, then apologized for yelling at him yesterday. Inari rubbed his eyes, tears falling and dripping off of his hands. "I didn't want to cry anymore... Now your just gonna call me a crybaby..." Naruto put his hands behind his head and smiled kindly, "It's okay to cry when you're happy." Naruto tied up the men and gagged them. He ruffled Inari's hair, "I can count on you here right? The bridge might be in trouble and I need to go." Inari nodded and waved at Naruto as he left, then wiped the tears away in his eyes.

Naruto looked at the bridge in horror. The enemy had wasted no time to ambush them at the bridge. Hinata and Kanami were defending Tazuna from attacks by five other people hired by Gatou. Naruto used his advantage of surprise. Kage Bunshins formed around the area, well hidden. On shuriken was thrown, followed by many others from the clones. He took out three of the five attacking Tazuna and was able to knock a masked boy out of a prison of mirrors that surrounded Sasuke. Naruto and his clones launched into the air and rained upon the bridge...

----

Naruto opened his eyes and saw a blue sky with few clouds. He was sore everywhere. He sat up slowly and clutched his bleeding shoulder. There was water surrounding him. He looked over to his left and saw his sensei fighting a fierce battle with someone that had bandages covering his face. Naruto couldn't hear very well and the last thing he could remember was diving into a battle on the bridge...

There was that boy from the woods lying a few yards away. Naruto wished he could remember what was going on. It began to rain lightly and Naruto's hearing slowly came back to him. He could hear the pitter patter of the rain, booms of light thunder, and the sounds of battle that his sensei was fighting. He slowly turned his aching neck to look for his teammates. Kanami was on all fours in front of Tazuna, who was bleeding a little from his shoulder. Hinata was a few feet away from Kanami, lying on her back, a little trail of blood coming from her nose. Kanami looked up at her sensei and Naruto could see her face. He could tell that she was breathing heavily, trails of blood came from both sides of her mouth and her forehead protector had a big gash across it. He noticed her thumb was bleeding also.

Naruto stared at Kanami, worried if she was going to be okay. He looked at Hinata, hoping she was only knocked out and was just fine. He looked around for Sasuke and saw him lying in the water not very far from himself. He crawled over to Sasuke and looked down at him, his eyes were closed and blood was being rinsed away by the rain. Naruto looked at Sasuke, thinking he was dead. The site sent shivers up Naruto's spine and froze him. Naruto stared at the needles sticking out all over Sasuke's body, wondering if he should pull them out. Naruto bit his lower lip and held his hand above his comrade, wondering if he could touch him. Sasuke slowly opens his eyes half way and stares up at the raining clouds, "Am I dead? Did you die too, Naruto?" Naruto could have hugged the boy... if he didn't look like a human pin cushion.

Kakashi's battle finally came to an end and Naruto just noticed men gathering around. The enemy ran into the crowd, getting stabbed, but continued on until he killed a man. Kakashi carried the man over to the boy from the woods and lied him beside the boy. The men that had gathered were now angry and were starting to get ready to attack. They soon were chased away by Kakashi using Kage Bunshin and the villagers. Naruto looked down at Sasuke and felt light headed. He soon fell back unconscious, his body desperately needed rest and regeneration...

---Two weeks later---

Naruto and his team were waving at the Tazuna and his family, Inari was bawling like a baby and so was Naruto. They walked across the finished bridge towards home, feeling proud of completing their C-rank mission. They all had finally recovered from the fight and were ready for the journey home...

----

I'll try an update this weekend if I get enough reviews. If not this weekend, sometime around before Wednesday I hope. I hope this chapter wasn't boring or at least was stand able. I kind of got bored with the Wave country idea (After forgetting what I had intended to do in the first place...). I'll try and put out a better and close to as long chapter soon. Remember, reviews make me write more and make me work harder to improve! Submit ideas through reviews please, I'm excepting every suggestion or idea. If your idea hasn't been written yet, I'll probably try and fit it in later. Anyway, review please!


	6. Unexpected Visitors

Sorry for not updating sooner. Forgive me! Please don't hurt me!

----

Naruto woke up and yawned. It had been a week since Wave country and Naruto proudly introduced his little bro, Konohamaru, to his team. The little kid had grown on the team and hung around often with his other friends. Konohamaru and his little gang were tagging along with team 3, talking to his 'leader' and asking him as many questions as he could. Naruto gladly answered them all and also felt he had to tell the story of when he fought the Chuunin on the way to Wave country (leaving out the part where he had passed out).

The team now turned a corner and walked between two wooden fences and saw two familiar faces from the academy, standing back to back. Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura. The duo smiled at Team 3 as they neared. Sakura and Ino both winked, in Sasuke's direction, and stood before their friends from the academy. Before anyone could say anything, Konohamaru spoke up, "Wow, boss! You're one smooth dude! I knew you were a hit among the women, but four! Wow boss, ya gotta teach me!" "Hehe..." Naruto scratched the back of his head, "Well, Konohamaru, it's all about playing it coo-" Naruto couldn't finish his sentence before he was sent through one of the wooden fences by two fists from the duo of an opposite team. Konohamaru looked at the angry faces of the pink haired girl and the blonde one. "Hey! How can you ugly bitches do that to him! You shouldn't do that to your--- Blaaaah!" Before he could finish what he was saying he was flying into the sky by the two Kunoichis.

Naruto was finally helped out of the pile of debris by his teammates and looked at the pair that had done that to him. "Hey hey hey! I thought you two hated each other, why are o such a good team now!" Naruto asked, wiping blood from his lip. The two in question smirked at each other, "A little alone time on a mission can change a lot, I guess." Ino said with a shrug. Naruto noticed they were holding hands and his eye twitched, "Oh my-- You're ands were glued together permanently by a jutsu on your mission, huh? Wow!" Naruto ran over to them and had begun to poke their hands, earning glares. Sasuke rolled his eyes and muttered something about annoying things. Hinata poked her fingers together and averted her eyes in thought. Kanami stared at Sakura, in shock. "Hehe. Okay, Naruto, if that's what you wanna call it." Sakura said. They began to walk awa as a distant scream could be heard. It got closer and closer until there was a loud boom and three people could be seen in a newly formed crater near by. Naruto ran to it yelling about aliens and espionage. Naruto stared down and saw a pretty blonde girl and a boy wearing black with something big on his back. Konohamaru was seen spread out on top of the two, in a daze. Naruto reached down and pulled the young boy out, "Wow, Konohamaru, you can jump high? Or did you see these ninja coming and decide to take them out? Well, good work!" He spun the boy around and began tying up the two ninja and set them up against the fence.

Naruto stood in front of his captives with a wooden stick, for protection. Konohamaru was still spaced out and Hinata was confused. Sasuke was muttering about Naruto being stupid. Kanami was trying to bring Konohamaru back to earth. Sakura and Ino had vanished when no one was looking. Naruto sat on his knees and leaned close to the tied up blonde. "Wow... you're kinda cute." Kanami narrowed her eyes at the fox boy, who didn't notice. the tied up blonde girl started to come to first. She blinked to clear her vision and stared at the grinning blonde boy in front of her, "What the hell? Who the hell are you?" "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, you're capturer! State your business and where you're from! And also, what this giant fan is for. Are you planning on fanning the Hokage? Is that why you are here?" Naruto asked, while swinging the closed fan like a sword in front of her. An angry vein was popping up on the side of the girl's forehead. "You idiot, that's my weapon and we're here for the Chuunin exams! And why the hell would I fan the Hokage!" Naruto bonked the girl on her head with her fan. "Temper temper! What's you're name?" "I don't have to tell you!" He bonked her on her head lightly again, "Well?"

"Temari! Dammit, you are annoying..." Naruto spun in circles as if he was dancing with her fan, "Well, I think you're funny and cute. Opinions differ greatly for us, I think." Temari turned her head away and blushed slightly. The boy started to become conscious too, "Eh? Huh? Temari, what's going on?" "An annoying kid caught us..." Naruto smiled and looked at his male prisoner, "Your doll thing broke during the impact. Sorry. I didn't think guys should play with dolls and I didn't think it was useful anymore, so I put it in the incinerator." "Gaah-whaaa!" "Calm down, Kankuro!" Kankuro was now foaming from his mouth and his eye was twitching.

Hinata was now sitting with her back against a fence, staring at the sky thinking of stars. Kanami had decided to take poor Konohamaru home. Konohamaru's friends had disappeared without a trace at no certain time. Sasuke was now building a scale model of himself, to use for Kawarimi one day. Kankuro spotted Sasuke's model and had decided to make it his next puppet. Naruto was telling Temari all about ramen, and she was actually listening. Sasuke's model and Kankuro had mysteriously disappeared by now and Naruto was now untying Temari while apologizing for capturing her and her brother. Naruto gave her fan back and she smiled at him then waved as she left with someone that had a big gourd on his back. Naruto turned around and stared at Sasuke, who was repairing his broken sandal, and Hinata, who was staring at the clouds blushing. He scratched his head and wondered where everyone went and what had happened. Naruto shrugged to himself and walked away, wondering where his sensei went.

---Next Day---

Naruto was hopping around on the bridge while most of his team were leaning against the railing, watching him in amusement. Kanami was reading a Uchiha Clan book about the Sharingan to try and learn more on how to activate it or if a female ever activated it. This was her second time reading it and it didn't give her much information on what she wanted to know. The young Uchiha girl sighed and closed her book and stored it away in a pouch she had strapped to her right leg. She stared up and saw Naruto wrestling with an invisible bear and smiled.

An hour later their sensei finally showed up... sort of. He was using a henge and was a talking bulldog. He had 4 applications in his mouth and gave them each one. "These are applications to the Chuunin Exam. I've nominated all four of you. The choice is yours to take, so if you choose not to come you can take it next time. Okay, that's all--" "Hey, sensei, why are you a dog!" Naruto yelled out before his sensei could leave. "Well... I kinda-- Wait, it doesn't matter." and with that, the dog ran off at high speed.

Naruto scratched his head and stared at the application and got an idea. He put the application into his pocket and walked beside Sasuke in the middle of the team. "Hey Sasuke... You know how Kakashi-sensei was a dog..." He started, twiddling his thumbs. His comrade shrugged. "Well... Could you do that? I betcha you can't!" Naruto smirked and glanced to his right at the Uchiha genius. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at his shorter teammate and formed a seal, "Watch and learn." A poof of smoke engulfed the team and when it cleared a huge, white, fluffy dog stood between Naruto and Hinata. Hinata looked down at Sasuke and Kanami was watching birds flying in circles. Instantly Naruto had launched himself onto the dog and held it around the neck. It yelped and sped away, Naruto barely hanging on...

----That night----

Naruto yawned and sat up, hearing shouts and loud noises. He slowly pulled his nightcap from his head and yawned again. He opened his eyes a little more when a loud noise erupted far off again. More shouts came and light illuminated from his window by his bed. He blinked and stared at the window, the light now gone. He got on all fours and pressed his face to the window and looked at people running by, screaming. He was just about to pull away when another explosion erupted and shattered his window and blew him straight through a wall into his living room. "Guh... Dammit... What the hell?" He sat up and stared around, his house was now missing a room and there was debris everywhere but no fire.

Naruto stood up and winced, his body sore from the impact through the wall. He was still in is boxers but had no time to get dressed, even though his whole room was in ruin. He ran to a corner of the room and grabbed a bag of supplies that Kanami had given him in case of emergencies or if he needed to pack quickly, on his birthday. He quickly searched it for some kunai. He found plenty and pulled three out and set them on the floor. He put the bag on his back and grabbed a kunai and put it in his mouth, the end pointing to the right. He grabbed the other two in his hands and immediately jumped from his house and ran at a fast pace. Another explosion that seemed to come from no where and blew Naruto back 15 feet. He lied in front of a destroyed building now and this time there were flames. Dark blue flames gave enough light to let Naruto see a shadowy figure inside the flames. The man was holding the handle of an enormous hammer in his left hand. The head of the hammer had a huge axe at one end and a flat side on the other. The thing was bigger than the man himself but he rested it on his shoulder as if it was nothing. The man had a long sword in his right hand which was emitting blue flames.

Naruto was barely sitting up when the man let out a low roar of insane laughter then pressed the tip of his sword to the ground, letting the fire make a ring around him. He slammed the hammer onto the ground and another explosion erupted, the fire was spread out at the speed of sound by the force of the hammer and chakra pushed into both weapons. The surrounding area was obliterated, Naruto in the range of fire...

Kanami and her family were trying to locate what or who was causing such destruction to the village. Every time they got to the next obliterated area all they would find was the destruction of houses, shops, and ground. Bodies would be found in the debris, dead or half dead. Not many lived after being so close to the source. All the ninjas in the village dashed around helping the wounded, trying to find the cause, or protecting important parts of the village. Kanami was now separated from her family and had found the newly formed destructed area.

She stood there and stared at the remains of what was left. Blue fire was slowly fading away but there was no one there to blame for starting it. She kneeled down and saw something that looked a little familiar. She picked it up by the tiny metal chain and looked at it, puzzled. She held the broken chain up and saw that something was on it. She brought it to her face and looked at it from the dim light of the fire. Dog tags. Kanami's mind whirled back to when they were in the academy and after Naruto and her had sparred then eaten ramen. Her whole body froze. She quickly stared at the dog tag's, hoping and wishing she didn't see what she was seeing. On one tag there was Naruto's name and on the other's hers. Her insides turned and her whole body started to feel a little numb. She sat on her knees and bent low to the ground, tears coming to her eyes. She hugged the tags to her chest and the heavy tears fell from her eyes and leaked down her face. "N-N-Naruto-k-kun..." she bit her lower lip and closed her eyes tight. She sobbed heavily and stayed low to the ground. She clenched her teeth and even though her eyes were closed tight, her tears had managed to keep a steady flow. Every memory of Naruto played in her head in order. Every minute and second she had spent with him seemed so much more precious. She sobbed again and shook her head, trying to figure out why it had to be him, what he did to deserve it. '_He can't be gone... He just can't... Why him! Why why why why!'_ She didn't move, just stayed low and cried.

Kanami was still sobbing heavily and her insides were still turning. It felt like an eternity to her since she had found the dog tags but it had only been a few minutes. Sasuke found Kanami crouched low on the ground still crying over Naruto. Sasuke had no idea what was going on and was clueless of his sister's reason to cry. "Come on Kanami, they finally found the guy! He's fighting Kakashi-sensei and we gotta hurry and help--" Kanami didn't let her brother finish his sentence. Her rage and sadness combined drove her, her emotions were her fuel. She was standing in front of her brother, eyes closed and her face still dripping tears. She opened her eyes and stared at her brother. Her left fist clutched the dog tags. Sasuke was shocked at what he saw and she walked past him. Her mind set on vengeance.

----

Kakashi was in heated battle with the destructive enemy. Kakashi had mostly only been able to evade the man's movements. The man wore plain black, tattered shorts. His upper body was bare and muscular. He swung the hammer as if it was weightless and his movements were swift and violent. Kakashi seemed to be the target because wherever he went, the man followed, leaving a path of destruction. Kakashi had nearly made it to the wall of Konoha when one of his subordinates blocked him off. He was surprised when he saw her eyes and her tear stained face. Before he could do anything she was in front the man. An angry vein pulsing on her left hand, she had stopped an attempt to be smashed by the hammer with one hand, though the force was enormous and she had to push a lot of chakra into her arm.. He swung his sword sideways at her left, his angry grunt followed up. She had grabbed the blade with her right hand and increased her chakra into her hand. She broke the sword and quickly thrusted her body upwards, slamming the hammer into the man. The man had only stumbled back a little bit before Kanami pushed herself off, landing ten feet away. Her right hand was bleeding and she dropped the blade. She quickly began performing a series of seals while the man rushed at her, holding the hammer, with both hands, high above his head.

Kakashi was watching the fight from a distance and was still shocked at what he found in her eyes. He looked into her eyes and had seen the Sharingan in both eyes, three comma like tears in each. When he looked into her eyes, he had seen and could almost feel her pain and determination. Something had happened during the attack that brought her so much pain and also revealed the Sharingan in her eyes. He could only wish he knew what. He had decided this was her battle but if it got too bad, he'd step in...

Kanami could see the man's movements clearly with her Sharingan and could see she had time. She had performed the seals and now bit her left thumb. She spread the blood onto her right hand and slammed her hand, palm down, to the ground and a seal formed on the dirt. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" There was smoke everywhere and when it cleared, to the man's surprise, Kanami was sitting on top of a huge lion. It was 10 feet high and 15 feet long. The giant lion roared with such force, the man's hammer was blown away. The feline's growls didn't affect the man and he grabbed the lion's leg and tried to crush it in his mighty arms. He was immediately 20 feet in the air and being played with by the predator. Every weapon that Kanami had with her were now flying at the man. When the man hit the ground, he was a bloody mess. The lion had now disappeared and Kanami stood beside the man, Sharingan gone. Tears were now flowing down her face. She could still hear him breathing and she kicked him. "You... You killed h-him... You killed o-one o-of the most p-precious people i-in my l-life..." Kanami said through sobs. The man's insane laughter was low and short, "Heh... Your sensei killed my brother, Haku. I may not have known him very well, but he was the best person I ever knew. I am older than him but when he was young, he was shunned as was I. We were feared. We had great powers, both of our powers different. We were separated and never saw each other again. I saw his grave and asked who did it to him... You would have done the same." a low voice managed to say. Kanami shook her head, "I'd never go and destroy a village just to get to one person. I'd never kill so many people and destroy so much and be able to laugh. You're horrible..." The man laughed harshly and lied there, dying slowly. She left him there, not able to bare being near him any longer.

----

Naruto slowly pulled himself out from under a crumbled house. There was a trail o blood coming from his head and going down his face. His right leg was bleeding and one of his kunai had somehow been lodged into his side, while another had found it's way into his leg.. There were minor cuts and bruises all over his body. Naruto winced as he finally became free. He lied on top of debris, bleeding badly and in pain all over. His vision was becoming blurry and he turned over and looked up at the sky. The dark sky was beautifully sprinkled with stars and illuminated with a calming blue color. '_Is this the end...? Do I die here...? No, I gotta... Become Hokage and... fulfill my dream'_ The last thing Naruto could remember was his name being called out...

----

Naruto slowly opened his eyes half way. His head was the only thing exposed from under the white sheets. His hand was held by someone else's. He slowly turned his head and looked to his right. He saw someone resting their head on his bed while holding his right hand. He figured out it was Kanami and wondered what was going on. He looked over at a window and saw light shining brightly through it. He also saw flowers on a nearby table in a vase. He could hear voices outside of the room talking.

'_Kakashi-sensei...? What happened to me? Why am I here...' _"You can go in now, his body has been recovering at a fast pace. It's amazing. With his concussion and other injuries, we thought it'd take more time, but he should be up today. We'll release him a little after he regains consciousness but he should take it easy for a little while just to make sure he fully heals." a soft female voice said from outside the door. "Yeah, yeah. Thank you." Kakashi said before entering and walking to the left side of the bed. "Well, you're awake. How are you feeling?" Naruto's sensei asked as he took a seat in a nearby chair. "Like someone knocked the hell out of me and I lost my head. What happened?" "Hm... The village was attacked by an insane man. You just weren't prepared for a fight so late at night, I'm thinking, and were knocked out of the way. We thought you were dead when you were found. Hinata had spotted you when she was going around to help the injured. Good thing her Byakugen spotted you because you were nearly dead. You lost a large amount of blood. Kanami had thought you died when she found your dog tags. She went off to avenge you and had succeeded." "She beat him all by herself?" Naruto asked in shock. "Well... I did wear him down a little bit and his chakra was running low from using so much to destroy the village. But she did do very well... Her emotions had led her to activating the Sharingan. First female to do it and first Uchiha to activate it without going through the stages." Kakashi said and his visible eye looked at Kanami's head." "Sharingan?" "Ugh, Naruto don't ask stupid questions. Ask Kanami when she wakes up, she'll tell you. Anyway, I'm glad your okay. Hinata came by with the flowers. Sasuke came by for a while too. Anyway, I need to give a report on damages and things. Help rebuild too. The Chuunin Exams have been postponed for a while to fix the village and strengthen the defenses. They'll release you soon." and with that, Kakashi left the room.

Naruto looked at the ceiling and could feel his right hand being squeezed a little. "N-Naruto-kun? You're... Okay? Oh, Naruto-kun! We were all so worried we lost you!" Naruto found himself in a tight hug and the Uchiha girl's tears fell onto Naruto's neck. "I'm so glad you're okay!" She exclaimed and hugged him a little tighter, burying her face into his neck. Naruto smiled, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have went off alone. I was clueless to what was going on." Naruto then felt what he had only felt once before, there was a warm sensation climbing up his spine this time. Kanami's warm lips were pressed against his in a warm and long kiss.

At the door stood a young Hyuuga heiress, shocked and downcast. She had found him and brought him to the hospital but she had gotten no gratitude. She looked at the two and stepped back a few steps then turned and started walking down the hall, feeling like she wanted to cry but held it back.

----

Weeks later, the Chuunin Exam was to begin. Naruto and the rest of the team stood in front of the Academy building, everyone ready and prepared. The village had been repaired and the walls of Konoha had been strengthened. The guards had been trained better and were now better prepared for any troubles during the exam. The Hokage had a bad feeling about the Chuunin Exam because of the intruder.

Naruto walked through the hall in the middle of his team on the left of Sasuke and on the right of Kanami, Hinata on Sasuke's right. They got to a crowd of Genin that were going to take the exam and a boy with a bowl cut hair cut was being beaten around by someone blocking a door. Naruto blinked as the guy started to explain the horrible things in the Chuunin Exam. Naruto didn't listen very much and pointed at the guy, "Hey, shut up already! We didn't come to this thing to hear you!" Sasuke smiled and looked at the number plate by the door, "Just remove the Genjutsu already, I'm sure _most_ of my team had already spotted it anyway. Right, Hinata?" Hinata blinked and nodded, then poked her fingers together and averted her eyes, blushing.

"Very good." The person by the door smirked, then suddenly shot out and made a kick at Sasuke. Sasuke didn't attempt to block or attack back, he just jumped over it and landed on the guy's head then pushed himself off forward, making the guy fall down on his face. "Come on, we better get to the next floor" Sasuke said and turned to leave while the rest of his team nodded and followed. Naruto turned his head and looked back to see the bowl cut boy hitting on Sakura. Naruto laughed then walked on.

They walked into room 301 and saw the rest of the Genin waiting and sitting. The other two rookie teams were there also and it was like a reunion. Sakura and Ino were hitting on Sasuke and Kanami was talking with the other Uchiha girls. The other rookies were also talking with each other and the other Genin from different villages were getting annoyed by the noise. Naruto looked around at everyone and started to get excited. He decided he'd announce himself and make sure everyone understood the situation, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! And if you bastards think you're gonna defeat me, you're dead wrong!" Naruto smirked and crossed his arms.

A group of people appeared in a large amount of smoke, and when it cleared, a man spoke up, "I am Morino Ibiki, the Examiner of the first test."

----

I'm gonna stop there, I hope it wasn't a horrible chapter. I'll update as soon as I can and try to make this better. I will be doing the Chuunin Exam differently. Anyway, please review and suggest your ideas. Thanks for reading.


	7. The Chuunin Exam

I guess the last chapter sucked. I hope this one makes up for it. Anyway, thank you everyone that have reviewed my story!

Disclaimer-Don't own.

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Naruto stared down at his test after hearing instructions on the test. He began sweating and Ibiki's word's rang in his ears '_For every question you get wrong, 2 points are deducted. Miss every question and your whole team fails.'_ Naruto began rubbing his head furiously, '_Oh man, oh man, oh man! I'll never pass... Sasuke will never forgive me! I'll let down all my teammates! I'll never be Hokage if I can't even pass a test! Aaah!' _Naruto rested his forehead on the desk, "Ugh..."

Sakura looked over at Naruto , wishing he'd stop moving and making so much noise. She cursed her luck for drawing the number to sit next to him. She elbowed him gently in his side and narrowed her eyes at him. The blonde looked up and stared at her then smiled, "Hi." Sakura sighed and shook her head then continued writing down answers. Naruto looked back at his own test and thought back to his academy days for some help. Nothing. He thought harder. He could hear Iruka-sensei's voice lecturing him but nothing that would help him out with the test. Naruto closed his eyes tight and tried to tap into some kind of hidden knowledge that resided in his subconscious. Nothing. '_Gaaah! I'll never pass!'_

Meanwhile, Hinata was doing well on her test. She was three rows behind Naruto and could see that he couldn't answer any of them. Hinata used her Byakugen and could see that nothing was answered on his test. She bit her lower lip and started to think deeply on ways she could help out her teammate. It had been twenty minutes since the test began and she was nearly done. She deactivated her Byakugen and rubbed around her eyes gently with her fingers. She began reviewing plans to help Naruto but all of them ended with her getting caught and them both losing points. She sighed and muttered his name softly, wishing she could help him.

Kanami had finished her test by copying the movements of someone that had seemed to know all the answers and finished quick enough. She now watched her Naruto-kun struggle through the test and still not get a single answer. She, too, wanted to help him. She couldn't figure out a way so far but didn't stop playing possibilities in her head. She twirled her pencil in her hand and glanced down at her brother to her right. He seemed to have used the Sharingan, too. She looked at Hinata and tapped her pencil slowly against the desk and stared at the back of her female teammates head. '_She's staring right at Naruto-kun... Although I've been open about my feelings for Naruto-kun for a long time now... What does he think of me? It's never really been official that we were together... Could Hinata actually be a threat to me and him being together?' _She bit her lower lip then shook her head, trying to refocus on the exams. She glanced at the clock, 15 minutes left.

Sasuke smiled to himself, thinking of how easy he had figured the exam out. He was planning ahead, wondering what the next exam would bring. He thought of possibilities and what he had overheard from other Genin that had taken the exam before. '_Hmm... Survival? Elimination by fighting? Probably survival with a team. They'll need to narrow down the numbers by the looks of the amount of shinobi thee are here.'_ Sasuke scratched his forehead and looked at the clock, 10 minutes before the 10th question.

Naruto glared at his paper, trying to scare it into sweating out the answers. He felt really stupid after he did this and rested his head on the sheet of paper. '_How would I be able to see the answers if it did that? It'd be all smeary...'_ Naruto looked over at Sakura and his eyes widened. '_Did she pass out?' _He screamed in his head, panicking. He was relieved when she sat up, seemingly okay. He was unnerved, however, when he saw the un-Sakura-like smirk on her face. He got creeped out as she began scanning her test as if she was looking for the slightest sign of a bug. He just turned his head and tried to forget.

Ibiki looked around. The room was starting to clear. 5 minutes left until he would give the 10th question and some were getting desperate and reckless. They were cheating horribly. One Genin had actually been a fool enough to try and slide the fully answered test away from the person next to him. Ibiki slapped his forehead and Narrowed his eyes at a blonde boy that seemed to be getting really nervous. He took a step towards the Genin and examined the rows of them. A quarter of them were cleared out for being reckless when cheating. He saw someone peeking over a pink haired rookie's shoulder, looking at her answers. Ibiki smiled, knowing this had been the fifth time he cheated. He threw a kunai into the Genin's paper and pointed at the door, "Out" The Genin made an outburst, complaining and wanting proof. In an instant, he was flat on the wall across the room, a Chuunin standing on the place in front of where the cheater was before, "We are the Elite of the Chuunins and we miss nothing. So you can say that our word out rules yours so get out." After the situation the Genin's team picked him up and dragged him out. The other Genin were watching silently. Ibiki looked back at the nervous blonde, '_He'll probably fail...'_

"Okay! Listen well! The tenth question is here and it's time to tell you the rules! They are simple enough." Ibiki looked up and saw a sad ninja coming back from the bathroom. "Finally. I hope your doll playing was helpful! Now sit down!" Ibiki examined the ninja as he walked to his seat and saw him drop something onto one of his teammates desk. "Anyway, time to get down to business. You will accept the question or reject it. If you accept and get it wrong, you will never be able to take the test again and remain a Genin forever. Refuse and we will allow you to walk away and prepare for the next time. Any rejections, just raise your hand and we'll write down your number and you and your team will leave."

The Genin were all complaining about the other nine questions and getting really nervous. The Genin were now dispersing quickly. The crowd was thinning and the blonde was getting more nervous.

Naruto stared at his hands and his mind was all over the place. He glanced at Sakura who had a confident smirk then he stared forward at Ibiki. His hand was shaking and he started to raise his hand, finally deciding on what he should do. The blonde boy stood up and Sakura stared at him, amazed the stubborn boy was giving up. "I... I do not give up and I will not run away! You don't scare me! I'll get this question right then go on to be a Chuunin! I'll become Hokage no matter what, even if I do get this question wrong I'll fins away! I will not go back on my word and that is my shinobi way! I'll get your dumb question right!" He shouted, pointing at the examiner.

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata muttered softly, staring at her crush admirably.

Sasuke smirked, expecting nothing less of his loud teammate.

Kanami smiled and knew Naruto could get through anything if he tried.

Ibiki looked around at the room and saw that the tension had lifted after the boy's words. He smiled, "You all pass."

---

"Hokage-sama! We have just found a small group of Sound Ninja patrolling around the village using Genjutsu and skilled movements to keep from being seen or detected. A group of Hyuugas spotted them slipping into Konoha and have been following them. We are not sure if this is a major threat and we have not stopped them, however, we have ANBU tracking them stealthily, watching their movements, watching for their intentions. They were headed to the Forest of Death. Should we cancel the Chuunin exams?" A masked shinobi quickly said, as if he had practiced what to say on the way there.

"Hmm... No. Let the ANBU track them and find out their mission if possible. If they do anything suspicious, they are to be arrested and held prisoner, heavily guarded. The village is to be guarded even more. Do not let these changes be apparent." The Sandaime said with a sigh.

"Yes, Hokage-Sama!" And with that, the ninja disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The old Hokage leaned back in his chair and took a puff from his pipe. "When did being Hokage become so troublesome..."

----

The Genin now gathered around outside bye a training area, led there by the next examiner after all their questions and confusement were resolved. Mitarashi Anko, the examiner, now addressed the large group of Genin. "Welcome, everyone, to the training arena 44, also known as 'The Forest of Death'. This is where the nest exam will take place. You'll soon find out why it's called the Forest of Death-" The examiner stopped when she saw a boy mocking her words and making stupid movements. This annoyed her. She pulled out a kunai and threw it.

"Hey, Naruto!" A certain lazy boy called out as Anko grabbed the kunai.

"Yea, Shi-"The blonde turned his head and the rest of his sentence was muffled out by a kunai caught between his teeth. "Bleh... What the?" Naruto yelled out, spitting the kunai in his hand. He looked at a confused Anko. "Jeez kid... You must have a lot of dumb luck..." Naruto smiled and looted her kunai into his holster. Her eye twitched, "Weren't you ever taught courtesy or manners?" The examiner yelled out, not knowing why this kid annoyed her so much. Everyone was staring at them, amused. Naruto tilted his head, "Is courtesy a word?" The examiner felt the urge to smack him or throw another kunai but resisted. "Aaaaanyway... We will be doing the Chuunin Exams differently this time because of the team placements of the rookies from Konoha. It was going to be a team survival, now it is a 1 man survival. It is important to be able to survive with a squad as a Chuunin but also it is very important to not be dependant. Each person will sign a form saying we are not responsible for any deaths, injuries, insanity... etc. Anyway, let me explain some things." The examiner then unrolled a scroll and showed everyone a map "There is the forest, river, and temple in the middle, 10km away from any entrance. There are 44 entrances to the forest so everyone will enter as a team then split up. It will be wise to not be a team because if a team is spotted it will be more easily targeted. There will be an all out war in this forest and you must get have 2 different scrolls to get into the temple." She then held up 2 scrolls, "Heaven and Earth. If you have Heaven you need Earth. If you have Earth you need Heaven. You will each be given different scrolls at that booth," She pointed at a booth that was for concealing whoever goes in. "You will be out there for five days and you must not look in the scroll... f you do, there will be a little surprise... As a Chuunin you will be asked to transport secret and important documents. This is to test your trustworthiness. Now you will be called one by one to the booth for your scroll. Now sign the forms and give them to the people at the booth when you get your scroll."

The Genin were all arguing about the terms and how they were to only be doing this without teams. Soon everyone was being called one by one and the crowd was dispersing. Team 3 was in a circle, talking about the exam. "Don't worry, we'll all pass! Let's make a promise now to do our best and meet up at the middle!" Naruto chimed, excited about the exam. Hinata looked at the ground nervously, "N-Naruto-kun... This sounds dangerous... Do you think we can all pull through?" "Don't worry, Hinata-chan, we've all gotten stronger! Your eye thingy should be perfect for this, right?" The young Hyuuga Heiress was slightly flushed in the face from being addressed as Hinata-chan by Naruto, she nodded. Kanami smiled, "Hey, bro, don't get into too much trouble, don't wanna be saved by you're older sis huh? Embarrassing probably, right?" Sasuke 'hn'ed and looked away. Naruto smiled and heard Hinata being called to the booth. She nervously walked away with her signed form. Naruto scratched his head and stared around at everyone talking or bragging. Hinata came back, her scroll hidden somewhere. She smiled softly and her teammates then looked at the ground in front of her feet, then did something she hadn't done in a while. She poked her fingers together and thought about what she would do to get the other scroll.

Later on the Uchihas were called then Naruto. Naruto got a Earth scroll and hid it under his jacket in a secret pocket. After everyone was called the teams walked to their respective gates. Team 3 stood at gate 12. They heard Anko scream out for everyone to begin and they launched themselves into the forest, staying together. "I-I was thinking w-we should stay together..." Hinata muttered softly. Sasuke shook his head slowly, "It would be safer but we would get targeted more easily and it would take too long to get so many scrolls..." "Okay, we'll split up."Naruto said as the team stopped on a large branch. Naruto looked at his team and smiled, "Let's make a promise, though. If we see each other in danger we will help out if it gets too hard. We should also promise to make it to the temple before the time limit runs out." The team nodded. "Good luck." The team said in unison and they each split away from the spot.

Naruto hopped with great speed towards the direction he assumed was to the middle. He jumped higher and higher until he was on top of a very tall tree. He looked around and could see little blurs or flashes of movement. It was time for him to unleash his plan. He formed a seal and grinned. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu..." He muttered, making 10 clones. He then used henge and they all turned into different animals and spread out. I'll scout the area using this jutsu." He then transformed into a squirrel. He hopped through the trees and ran along the ground for a couple of hours. He heard an occasional scream or some movement. His clones had spread out pretty far and had spotted ninja fighting. He hit gold when three of his clones found a lone ninja simply walking towards the middle. Naruto and his clones had al gathered around the ninja. He had a huge gourd on his back and reddish brown hair. It was the sand ninja that Temari had walked away with. Naruto had a bad feeling about him so he stealthily got away with his clones to scout elsewhere.

----

Hinata had been using her Byakugen for a while now, staying away from danger and looking for the scroll she needed. She had Heaven and needed Earth. She concentrated and scanned further ahead of her. It was starting to get dark and she needed to find a safe place to rest. She pulled a scroll out of her jacket and opened it. She summoned the contents from it, a ba of supplies she had sealed earlier that day. She stored the scroll in the bag and started pulling out steel wire and transparent wire. She also pulled out other things and began setting complex traps around the area.

----

Kanami was in an intense battle with Sound ninja. She was taking on a three man team. Her Sharingan was activated and was being used intensely. Kanami was avoiding their sound attacks and was unleashing her chakra strictly for the Sharingan and her limbs for faster and easier movements. Her swift moves and Sharingan were a good combo. She was able to predict their moves perfectly but the Chakra was tricky to avoid. She was able to take out the girl easily but she got the wrong scroll. She needed a Earth and the girl had a Heaven but she took it anyway. She was then able to work her way around the guy in bandages and performed swift and precise attacks on his neck and back. He was down. She got his earth scroll. She turned on the last remaining ninja with a menacing smirk, Sharingan blazing. The Sound nin backed away slowly as Kanami began forming a series of seals. "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!" She yelled as she blew many powerful but small fireballs at the ninja, who blasted them away using his technique. While he was distracted she pushed her chakra straight to her legs and used immense speed to get behind the ninja. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" She yelled after she finished the seals, the ninja was engulfed in a huge ball of flame. His scroll rolled away from him, still slightly on fire but the flame was quickly dying. She walked away towards the temple and deactivated her Sharingan. '_If I hadn't used traps to knock them off guard then ambush them that would have been a challenge...'_ She thought and hopped into a tree.

----

Sasuke had already defeated a grass ninja and got the wrong scroll, Earth. He sighed and stored the scroll in his pouch just in case his teammates needed it. He needed a Heaven scroll so he kept on searching, trying to ambush others. He later found a slightly burned heaven scroll by three dead ninjas. He examined the ninjas briefly thinking it might be a trap but shrugged as he picked it up, not noticing someone smiling in the distance.

----

Naruto and his group of animal-clones still hopped through the forest while it was dark. They were planning on a surprise attack on the next ninja they saw. Naruto smirked when he could see the form of someone curled up under a partially hollowed out tree. It was too dark for Naruto to see whether the ninja was female or male or what village the shinobi was from. Naruto had decided he'd pull a surprise attack with all his clones at once. They all surrounded the area. They each became normal again then dove, "CHAAAAAARGE!" In an instant the area was covered in smoke and he could hear yells of his clones then he could hear them puffing away. He couldn't see anything and he fell to the ground, a kunai lodged in his right shoulder. His back hurt and before he could get up he was swung into the air by a transparent net and kunai and shuriken pinned him to a tree. Naruto couldn't believe he hadn't thought of checking for traps. The smoke cleared and the ninja stood 10 feet below him, looking up. The moonlight cast enough light to reveal each other to the other.

"Hinata-chan?" "Naruto-kun?" They boy said simultaneously. "I-I-I'm s-so sorry, Naruto-kun!" Hinata squeaked, walking up the tree to Naruto. Naruto winced as he remembered the pain in his shoulder. Hinata looked at his wound and frowned deeply, "I'm so sorry, Naruto-kun..." She said in barely a whisper. She began pulling out the kunai that was holding him to the tree. He hopped from the tree and landed roughly on the ground and rolled onto his back. He grabbed the handle of the kunai and winced. He closed his eyes tight. A nasty sound filled Hinata's ears as her teammate pulled out the bloody Kunai. It had almost went through to the other side and made it hard for him to use his right arm at all. He cringed and tightly grasped his shoulder with his left hand. Hinata kept muttering apologies and slumped to the ground next to him.

"It's okay... Do you have anything to ease the pain or help to heal?" Naruto mumbled, his left hand covered in his own blood. "We have to stop the bleeding first..." Hinata muttered and poured cool water on a towel she pulled out of her bag. She laid the towel on his shoulder after moving his hand out of the way. "This will hurt..." She barely whispered before putting great pressure on the wound. Naruto clenched is eyes shut and winced.

----

"Anko-san, the Genin have started arriving." A Chuunin said to the examiner who was sitting in a room higher up in the tower. "Already?" "Yes" "It hasn't even been a day yet." "5 Genin made it here so far. The first was a sand ninja named Gaara. Second was Inuzuka Kiba. Third was Aburame Shino. Fourth was Hyuuga Neji. Fifth was Nara Shikimaru." "Hm... Interesting."

----

Naruto was in the bottom of the hollowed tree with Hinata. His arm was in a make-shift sling and his shoulder was dressed in bandages on top of a healing slave that Hinata had used. Naruto stared forward to the outside. Hinata had her traps set up again and they were well hidden along with some false traps. It had began raining and they were both huddled together across from the entrance under the enormous tree. Hinata was sitting on Naruto's left with her knees pulled to her chest, face flushed. They were both comfortable, both leaning on the other and their backs against the tree. Hinata had a warm feeling all over her body even though the rain was making the night get cooler. She glanced at Naruto and smiled softly, "H-How do you think th-the others a-are doing, Naruto-kun?" He looked at her and gave a wide grin, "Knowing Sasuke and Kanami-chan... They might already be there by now!" Hinata smiled and nodded then looked out at the rain, glad she could be so close to Naruto in this forest instead of being alone. With him, she had a feeling that she was safer.

----

Sasuke hurriedly hopped through the trees at top speed. Kunai and shuriken sliced through the air and came from behind the raven haired boy. He jumped over them and decided it would be best not to go in a straight line. The boy frantically flung himself from the tree he was in as a kunai landed then exploded, the force sending Sasuke hurling into a tree. The young boy fell to a branch then slid off and fell to the ground. He clutched his side and forced himself back up. He was in a clearing and was soaked in rain. He was freezing but continued to run. The poor boy ran as fast as he could as kunai rained down on him. Nothing in his life scared him like this, he never had an opponent as skilled as this one was. He fell against a tree and stared up at the black sky, all senses on the edge. He activated the second level of the Sharingan to see movements easier and predict the movements to make an easier escape. It was a good thing he did that and he was able to escape again.

Sasuke couldn't help but feel like he was just being played with and not taken seriously.

----

Kanami swiftly deflected 5 shuriken and activated her Sharingan. She saw her opponent. A man with long black hair and a snake-like face. '_Those...eyes...' _She thought briefly before every nerve in her body felt like they burst into flames. Her vision became blurry and she couldn't see the man anymore. Her surroundings phased out into darkness. She stared down at the ground and saw a puddle of blood. She fell back, feeling like death would never come and she'd be in pain for eternity. She gasped as pain racked her insides and she spit out blood. Long, deep, gashes formed on her body in different places. Her arm painfully detached and blood spurted from the socket. She cried out in pain and bit her lower lip, tears of pain and fear rolled down her cheeks.

After what seemed like hours of torment the girl finally saw her surroundings again and the pain stopped. She looked up at the man who was smiling menacingly with a slight look of surprise. "So... You're not insane even after that? That Genjutsu has driven even the strongest of shinobi to beg for mercy... Interesting. Kukuku..." The man knelt down beside the frightened girl and licked his lips. "Yes... You have the Sharingan... Your potential is great... Even greater than my last apprentice. Kukuku..." he said as he lowered his head. The frightened Uchiha girl's eyes widened and she acted on instinct. She threw herself back and thrusted herself up, kneeing the man in his chin. She quickly turned in mid air and slammed the back of her heel into the back of his head. She pulled out a kunai and thrusted it into the man's back and quickly jumped high into the air. She deactivated her Sharingan because her chakra was dangerously low. She wasn't far from the tower and sprinted at full speed.

'_I-It w-was him! Father... You told me about the 3 legendary ninja! You told me of the traitor... I remember now! Oh no! If I don't get away, I'll die!'_ she screamed in her mind, the tower in sight. She briefly looked behind her and saw the man with a maniacal grin on his face, standing on the head of an abnormally large snake. The snake was quickly catching up and Kanami was losing hope. Everything seemed to slow down now to Kanami. She made one last forceful hop and turned around while still in the air. She was holding two kunai in each hand now, all four of them with an explosive not on it. She threw the kunai simultaneously. Two kunai sank into each of the snake's eyes and it hissed with pain. It threw itself up and the snake-nin was thrown from his spot.

Kanami slammed into the dirt in front of the temple. She sighed in relief, the snake disappeared and she didn't see the ninja anywhere. Suddenly out of nowhere the man's head flew at her, his neck becoming longer. Her eyes widened as she felt pain on her neck as teeth sunk in. Then finally a burning sensation that made her break out in sweat. "You will be mine. Kukuku... You'll later realize the power I can give you and you _will_ seek me out in search of it. Have fun until then, kukuku..." He hissed as his head snaked back to his body behind some bushes. Kanami clutched the left side of her neck in pain. She slowly stood up and stared at two doors with a seal on the middle . She slowly removed her hand from her neck and pulled open the double doors, ripping the seal. She walked in, soaked in rain the rain she had forgot was falling

----

Sasuke had managed to gather the courage to stand up to his opponent. Unknowingly to him a certain admirer watched him in awe as he did so. He stood on the branch of a large tree with a confident smirk on his face. His opponent was now tangled in steel wire on a tree in flames. Sasuke had used a clever combination of the Sharingan windmill triple blade and one of his clan's fire style jutsus. Sakura was absolutely ecstatic after watching him. Sasuke saw a small bag fall to the ground and 3 scrolls rolled out. He smirked and jumped down and grabbed the bag and stored his own extra scroll in it along with the other three he just acquired.

"Sasuke-kun! You're amazing!" Sakura shrieked as she ran over to him and hugged him around his waist. He smiled to himself but quickly remembered his team, "Have you seen my sister, Naruto, or Hinata?" Sakura let go as he pulled away and turned to look at her. She shook her head and quickly remembered the chill and wetness. Then she suddenly snapped to attention as she remembered, "I saw Hinata a while ago with Naruto under a tree! She had accidentally wounded his shoulder and they found shelter under a tree!" Sasuke smiled, "Will you take me?" His smile warmed her insides and made her cheeks become a little warmer and she nodded, grabbing his hand before leading the way.

----

Hinata and Naruto were still under the tree but both were asleep. Hinata was close at Naruto's side, her head resting on his shoulder. They were both warm and dry. Hinata was smiling in her sleep, her head nuzzled against Naruto's neck. Naruto's head was resting on Hinata's, both unconscious but both enjoying each other's warmth.

Sasuke had figured there were traps and cleverly planned out a way to get under the tree after careful observation around the area. Sasuke and Sakura crawled under the enormous tree then stood up, surprised at the large amount of space there was and how dry and warm it felt. They both saw the two teammates huddled together and smiled. There was a brief 'aww' from Sakura. Sasuke walked over to a spot a few feet away from his teammates and pulled out his own scroll. He summoned a pillow and clothes with a sleeping bag from it. Sakura gave him a weird look which earned a brief 'what' from the Uchiha boy. He motioned for her to turn around which she did, reluctantly, as he changed clothes and snuggled himself into the sleeping bag. Sasuke was fast asleep before Sakura turned around. Everyone was comfortable, dry, warm, and happily sleeping except _her._ This annoyed the pink haired girl but she shrugged it off. She kneeled in front of Naruto and Hinata and smiled a little, though a bit envious. She wished she could be in Hinata's place and Sasuke in Naruto's place. She sighed and moved to a place near Sasuke. Sasuke must not have been as asleep as the young girl had thought, "Sakura... there's no sense in you suffering all night. I have extra clothes and a towel in my bag..." Sakura looked up and slowly smiled"But where will I sleep?" She was hoping for a reply like 'Well... This _is_ a big sleeping bag' or a simple 'With me' but all she heard was the boy crawling out of his sleeping bag then she saw him point at it. She nodded. She began undressing, forgetting about Sasuke, making the boy's face flush and he quickly turned around. After a few minutes the warmth on his face went away and Sakura was already asleep in the sleeping bag. Sasuke sighed and stared at Sakura, he was just too nice. He curled up on a spot between Sakura and his two sleeping teammates.

----4 days later----

18 Genin stood in front of their proud Jounin leaders. Only three shinobi were not from Konoha. 3 Sand ninjas, Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara. The rest were from Konoha. All the rookies made it along with 3 others, Lee, Neji, and Tenten.

Kanami had done her best for four days to conceal her pain and the mark, although her team had been suspicious. Sasuke had given Naruto and Hinata his extra scrolls and Sakura, too. They all came in on the second day.

"Welcome, everyone, you have all passed the second exam!" The Hokage greeted, pleased that most of the Genin that passed were from his village.

----

I'll end it there and update as soon as I can! Sorry for taking so long but I was busy with the ending of school things and summer activities. Anyway... Gimme a review, they inspire me to update sooner! Thanks for reading! Oh and the other sound ninja had been killed battling the ANBU, holding them off so the other two could go on.


	8. Preliminaries

I am pleased with my last chapter. I thought it was pretty good but that's why I wrote it. I hope I get the same feeling from this one. Thank you everyone that reviewed my story.

Disclaimer- Don't own.

Now, enjoy chapter eight!

----

Naruto smiled at the Jounin's, proud that this was the part he would prove himself. The Hokage explained everything. They were to fight in a preliminary round, to the death if it came to extremes. The examiner would stop the match if there was a clear winner and everything was fair in the fights. Naruto looked around at the Genin, wondering who he would face. The Hokage also continued to explain things. Something about war and replacements and power. Naruto didn't pay attention. His mind was on more important matters... Like how he was going to fight. Of course he knew he was going to use his clones but what after that? He decided to think more deeply.

----

Kanami stood at the back away from everyone with her right hand on the left side of her neck, rubbing the cursed seal. She stared at the stone-tiled floor, thinking on her fight. Whoever she faced, she hoped, would be the worst person at taijutsu ever. She had learned over the four days of waiting that activating the Sharingan would immediately trigger the curse to start doing something weird. She also learned she couldn't channel much, if any, chakra without triggering it. She continued to stare at the tiles. She didn't want anything to interfere with her chance of becoming a Chuunin. She knew it was a possibility that if they found out about Orochimaru or the seal the exams could be stopped or she would be disqualified. But wasn't it her responsibility to report something like this to someone? With an S-class enemy in Konoha changes would be made. She stared around, half wanting to tell someone and half wanting to stay quiet and lie low. The troubled girl continued to stare at the floor as the examiner, Gekkou Hayate, began speaking. They revealed the electronic board that would decide the opponents. Kanami briefly looked up at the board before returning her attention to the floor. She could only hope to be able to control the seal.

----

Hinata stared at the electric board on the wall, transfixed. The thing that would decide her opponent would not be diverse or play favorites. She smiled, she wanted to face her cousin, Neji. She wanted to prove herself to at least somebody in her clan and Neji, being one that hated the Main branch of the clan, was a good way to start. Being blessed with the best talents any Hyuuga could hope for, Neji was by far the strongest in the Cadet branch of the clan. Hinata knew that proving herself to him might break the hateful feeling he had for the main branch, it also might make Naruto aknowledge her more...

----

Hayate continued talking, coughing, and explaining as he lead the Genin and Jounin up the stairs to a balcony along the wall of the stone room. The examiner then jumped back to the floor and stared at the electronic board, ready to begin.

"Hm. The first match of the preliminaries is Uchiha Sasuke versus Kankuro!" The examiner coughed, "Okay, will the two said Genin come to the floor and prepare to begin." Sasuke jumped to the floor with a smirk, ready to end it quickly. Kankuro hopped down, too, with a smug look on his face. "Okay not to rush you or anything, but... Begin!"

Sasuke then took on a serious expression, staring at Kankuro, '_There's something... familiar. Something on his face that makes me thing of a mirror. What is it? A good look at his face reminds me a little of my own...' _They both stood a few yards away from each other, the room dead silent. Sasuke wanted his opponent to make the first move but it didn't look like he would. Sasuke frowned, deciding he'd have to. He quickly began forming seals, "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!" Sasuke yelled, bringing his fingers to his lips, blowing out many fireballs. Kankuro nimbly dodged the attacks, bending in ways that seemed impossible for a human and more specifically a male. Sasuke hopped backwards after stopping his onslaught of fireballs. He bit his kip, quickly thinking of what to do next. He glared ad locked his vision on Kankuro, backing up to the wall. He began gathering chakra into his legs and feet. Kankuro still hadn't attacked and just stared at him. Sasuke turned around and placed a foot on the wall. He ran up the wall at full speed until he reached the ceiling, there, he ran across the roof, looking down at Kankuro, forming seals as he ran. He wouldn't give him a place to run or dodge. He reached the center and began gathering a large amount of chakra into his mouth. He had been training hard to use this technique and he hasn't done it right yet, but this would be different. He was determined. His mind was set and he had been building his chakra for it. His chakra had been getting larger and now he was sure he was prepared.

"Katon: Karyuu Endan!" He yelled after gathering his chakra into his mouth. Kakashi's eyes widened and others looked puzzled, hot sure what the jutsu was. Hayate also put on a grim face and quickly hopped onto the balcony. Sasuke leaned back and thrust his body foreword, a roaring flame streaming from his mouth. It kept coming and came down upon Kankuro as a huge wall of flame, engulfing him before he could escape. The flame finally stopped it's stream from Sasuke's mouth but most of the stone-tiled floor was still engulfed with flame. Sasuke smirked, then felt the effects of the chakra loss. He hopped from the roof down to the floor and landed in a crouching position where the flame had already ceased. He stared at the direction where Kankuro had been, the area still covered in flames. He glanced up at the balcony and saw a girl sand ninja looking a bit apprehensive. He looked back over to the dissipating flames, staring at a lump of fire on the floor. It began moving but there were no screams. A pair of bright, red eyes flashed in Sasuke's direction and the flames ceased. Sasuke stared across the scorched floor at a burnt puppet thing and perfectly fine Kankuro. In fact, the sand nin was smiling. Sasuke glared daggers. He had been played for a fool. He had carelessly wasted his chakra.

"Well, you've successfully ruined my puppet with your troublesome NinJutsu. Also, burning my disguise. That's the second puppet your team has ruined. I guess you'll be the one to pay. Heh..." Kankuro smiled, wondering how he would win without his puppet. He cracked his knuckles, he knew the basics, that would have to do. "You have lost a significant amount of chakra, Sasuke, it would seem I have the upper hand."

Sasuke smirked at that, "You may have fooled me about the puppet posing as you, but, you can't fool me that you are practiced in anything but puppeteering." It seemed he was right because Kankuro didn't answer immediately.

"You'll have to find out." Kankuro said as he rushed forward. He could at least use his chakra to be faster and stronger, something that Sasuke would have to pull of a miracle to do. Kankuro threw swift punches at Sasuke, who hopped left and right in order to dodge. The sand nin dropped to the floor to deliver a sweep kick, but Sasuke merely jumped over. Though Sasuke wasn't a taijutsu expert, he was still better at it than him, even without using chakra. An angry Kankuro jumped back, barely escaping Sasuke's foot from crushing his skull. Everyone in the balcony, except for a select few, thought Sasuke would win easily. They now watched intently at the ongoing battle lasted another fifteen minutes.

Breathing heavily, Sasuke tightened his hold on Kankuro's neck. Both of his arms were wrapped around the sand nin's neck in a head lock. He clenched his teeth and slammed his knee into the puppeteer's back. Kankuro's eyes widened at the pain and Sasuke dug his knee further into the opposing nin's back. He tightened the grip and he finally passed out. Hayate walked over to the two and checked Kankuro, confirming he was out cold. Sasuke released his opponent and took a deep breathe. He smiled, he was going to move on to the finals. The medic nins came and took the boy away and Sasuke was declared the winner. The relieved Uchiha boy, slightly bruised and exhausted, returned to the balcony, greeted by a pair of high pitched screams and two people wrapping their arms around him. He smiled, a part of him liking the attention, but shook them off, returning to his team. "Th-that was great Sasuke-kun." muttered a nervous Hinata. "Sasuke, you won and all, but... You took forever! And what was that flame thingy? That was really cool!" An excited Naruto smiled, congratulating his teammate in his own way. Sasuke smiled but then scanned around for a missing person.

"Hey, lil' bro! Great job. You must be proud to have mastered such an elite technique." Kanami smiled, hiding her pain. A content smile played on Sasuke's lips, "Thanks."

The examiner cleared his throat and directed everyone's attention to the electronic board, "Next match: TenTen versus Temari! Please come down to the arena and prepare to begin" Hayate watched as the two girls got in position and waited to begin the match as the scorched floor was being cleaned. The two soon-to-be opponents glared at each other as they planned their match in their head. The cleaning was finished, "Okay! Begin!"

----

Kanami stood behind her team as the 'ooed' and 'awed'. She sighed, wishing she could relieve er burden in some way. She heard and felt large amounts of wind and saw kunai and other varieties of weapons embed themselves in the walls. A hand was place on her shoulder and she turned around and looked at the person. "Kakashi-sensei?" "Shh. Follow me."

Kanami was led away by Kakashi and Naruto watched the amazing battle, cheering on TenTen. He noticed two people were gone and looked away, noticing the absence of two people from his team. He looked past everyone and saw his sensei and Kanami talking away from everyone. He could see the back of Kanami and he could see Kakashi talking to her. Kanami looked down her sensei stopped talking. Naruto scratched his head in confusion as Kanami clutched her collar and started to pull it down slightly on her left. Kakashi nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder and stared at her, a serious look...in his _eye. _Naruto could see his mask move and his jaw move, so he figured he was talking. Kanami nodded. Naruto scratched his head but heard a loud boom and a large gust of wind filled the room. Naruto quickly turned around and watched eagerly as the fight continued. TenTen appeared behind Temari and landed a direct kick in her back and began and onslaught of attacks with her weapons.

The fight eventually ended with TenTen unconscious on Temari's fan. Temari smirked and threw her off the fan. TenTen flew across the floor, merely feet away from landing on a weapon covered floor. Luckily, she was caught by her teammate, Lee. Naruto then turned his attention to his sensei who had now come back and stood beside him. He eyed him for a minute before turning around and seeing Kanami, seeming a little different. There was something like a feeling around her that gave her a relieved feeling. Naruto sighed and turned his attention back to the examiner who had begun to speak.

"Next match: Uchiha Keiko versus Gaara-" Hayate stopped as both said nin had immediately appeared on the floor in a gust of wind. "Umm... Okay, begin!" Keiko wasted no time to start it off. She smirked and held her hand in front of her face, middle and pointer finger up, and began to... vanish. Gaara seemed to not care, he pulled off the cork of his gourd and sand began to pour out onto the floor. He stared in the direction of where his opponent once was. He rose his right hand in front of him and sand began forming from the air. Not counting the seemingly endless sand pouring from his gourd, sand was covering the entire stone floor. There was now sand in different places around the stone floor being shifted and pushed up as if someone had just stepped there. Gaara ,without emotion, began putting his chakra into the sand and whenever and wherever there was movement he hadn't caused, he would crush the sand around the place immediately in hopes of capturing, or killing, his opponent.

Keiko smiled, though her GenJutsu concealed it and stopped throwing her kunai. She used GenJutsu to conceal herself and her noted weapons. She was in the corner of the room, concentrating and timing her movements. She smirked, '_First one... Now..." _A loud and powerful explosion erupted beside Gaara, surprising him and throwing him out to the side into the wall, his protective sand catching him before he hit the ground. The Genjutsu had made the sad a little more useless, without Gaara's sight and anything to detect movement before it was too late, the sand would be too slow. Keiko was surprised to see that his skin was cracking and falling off. She narrowed her eyes, '_A defense... Hm... ' _She unrolled a scroll and wrapped it around a kunai with attached steel wire. She glared, '_Time to get serious.'_

She removed the Genjutsu from the room. Everyone gasped, the entire floor was filled with scrolls, weapons with seals on them, and smoke bombs. The walls had scrolls on them, held up by various weapons. Keiko had always carried around a bag on her back, but none of her team had ever thought she could carry so much stuff.

"I like to think that my talents at Genjutsu are advanced. Doing this to the room would have taken most more time and would be noisier. Also not everyone could cast such a large Genjutsu without it being noticed. Anyway..." Keiko smiled as she ran her finger along the scroll that was wrapped around the kunai. She never took her eyes off of the seemingly emotionless sand nin. The scroll's seal turned red and she tossed it in the air, spinning it by the steel wire. She swung it into the sand-coated floor, releasing her chakra into the wire, through the string, into the sand, along the walls, and virtually everywhere in the room near her weapons. The room began glowing red and the temperature began to rise. Hayate eyed the room, wondering if he should stop this before the temple needed serious repairs. Hayate opened his mouth and the whole room flashed bright red, destroying all hopes of visibility.

Silence. Everyone opened their eyes, surprised. Nothing happened. They looked back at the floor to see a smirking Keiko, behind Gaara, her special designed blades, glowing with white chakra, piercing his sand armor on his neck. Slight trickles of blood came from where the blades had pierced his armor. Gaara stood frozen to the spot, mesmerized. Having never felt pain or anyone coming so close to cause pain put him in a trance. He had not been seriously wounded, just minor scratches, but the feeling of pain was totally new to him. "Give up or die." She said softly, smiling. She had fooled everyone and distracted them with a Genjutsu within a Genjutsu.

"I declare Uchiha Keiko the inevitable winner." Hayate said and as he did Keiko removed her blades and began walking back to the stairs. Gaara's eye twitched and e glared after the girl that had defeated him seemingly so easily. He had never felt pain and she delivered it. Yet, no one, especially female, had ever came so close to him, touched him without wanting to cause pain or kill him. He stared after er, losing his hatred slowly, and got over his defeat. He had felt like crushing her but now it seemed pointless. He guided his sand back into the gourd and corked it. He returned to the balcony by his siblings in a whirl of sand.

Naruto was amazed, he had never really witnessed Genjutsu first hand. He glanced at Sasuke, the Uchiha clan really was a force to be reckoned with. Sasuke smiled, he knew that Keiko was good at Genjutsu but he didn't know she was _that _good. He glanced at her Jounin instructor, '_Well her sensei is Yuuhi Kurenai.'_

Keiko's sensei hugged her, "You're Genjutsu was great! You even had me on the edge." Keiko smiled widely, "Well... Hehe... Thanks." The rest of her team congratulated her while Hayate announced the next match.

"Uzumaki Naruto versus Yamanka Ino" Hayate said nonchalantly. Naruto's eye twitched, "Why... _Her..."_ He sighed and hopped down to the floor, to see Ino already there. "This'll be pie." She sighed, like she had already won. Naruto glared, he was being underestimated. Everyone always underestimated him. He **_hated_** that. He glared, "I'm not gonna go easy on you. You'll pay for underestimating Uzumaki-" "Shut up! Stop acting like you're powerful you're-"

"You shut up, I am-"

"BEGIN!"Hayate yelled over the two arguing nins. Hayate immediately moved away from the two, sensing an intensity between the two. Naruto immediately formed a seal, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He yelled as 5 clones formed around him. They all charged at her. She looked at them and smirked, "Oh please, Naruto, you can't full me with these clones, you're just hiding. All I have to-" She couldn't finish her sentence after a fist had rammed her in the gut, sending her a few feet in the air, her eyes wide in shock. A Naruto launched himself off the initial attacker's back, making it poof away in smoke. Four clones came up under Ino.

"U" "ZU" "MA" "KI" four Naruto's yelled one after the other in order as each of them delivered powerful kick into Ino, sending her higher. "Naruto Rendan!" The real Naruto yelled as he appeared high above Ino, his foot raised high. He came down on Ino as she continued up and slammed the back of his heel below the back of Ino's neck. She young Yamanaka landed hard on the stone floor, coughing up blood then falling unconscious. Naruto stood beside her, glaring down at her back, "Hmph."

"Uzumaki Naruto wins!" Hayate said, with a slight smile. Naruto smiled and put his hands behind his head and walked back up the stairs with a grin on his face. The medics took Ino away on a stretcher. As soon as Naruto got to the top of the stairs he was met by a painful and forceful slap by Sakura, sending him down the length of the stairs to the floor. "You jerk! You didn't even give her a chance!" "Ugh..." Naruto sat up and rubbed his cheek, "Not my fault she didn't take her fight seriously!" Sakura glared at him before rushing past him to check on Ino before they take her away. Naruto narrowed his eyes and sighed, getting up and walking back up the stairs to his team.

"C-congratulations, Naruto-kun." Hinata said, her voice barely over a whisper. Naruto smiled at his shy teammate, "Thanks." Sasuke was staring at the electronic board. Naruto looked around expecting a hug or praise of some kind but followed Sasuke's stare.

"Next match: Uchiha Kanami versus Haruno Sakura." Hayate said as the two Kunoichi came to the floor and stood a few yards away from each other. "Begin!"

Kanami began rushing forward while swaggering side to side. She hopped forward, turning over in the air, bringing her foot down to the floor where Sakura had been a moment before. Kanami rolled forward onto her back and sprung up onto the wall and thrust herself off the wall with her legs, shooting at Sakura. Her movements were quick, graceful, and unusual. She took Sakura by surprise and slammed her down by her shoulders She sprung herself off of Sakura by her arms and turned back upright in mid air, bringing a kick down as she descended. Sakura rolled out of the way and pulled out a kunai. Kanami slammed her foot into the round as she came down and back flipped to her feet. She locked eyes with Sakura, determined to out do her in anyway possible with taijutsu only.

They both rushed forward and Sakura slashed at Kanami's face but the Uchiha girl ducked and grabbed Sakura's elbow and somehow lifted her off her feet, disarming her of the kunai and, in a forward motion, thrust herself forward, throwing the Haruno into the near wall. She picked up the kunai and spun it in her hand. Sakura got up and rushed at Kanami, her chakra focused into her limbs for speed and power. Sakura thrust her fist at Kanami's face but she easily dodged, throwing a punch back at her which was avoided by a spinning Sakura that dropped to the floor and delivered a successful sweep kick, making Kanami fall flat on her back. The pink haired girl spun on her hands and brought her legs in the air and brought them back down with a forceful blow to Kanami's gut. The Uchiha girl winced but took the opportunity to grab Sakura's foot and twist it painfully, making the pink haired Kunoichi let out an involuntary gasp of pain.

Kanami twisted it further, forcing Sakura to turn over onto her front. Kanami stood up without letting go and, with a final twist, let go. She quickly placed a knee into Sakura's back and pulled on her arms, making the girl clench her eyes and mouth shut in pain. '_This is getting no where, I gotta knock her out or make her give up...'_ Kanami thought, thinking quickly on what to do. While Kanami was thinking, with full blown force of will, Sakura had managed to fight through the pain and somehow got Kanami off.

They were both on their feet now and both stared at each other. They once again ran at each other and began a full blown taijutsu match.

"What is she doing? Why won't she use the Sharingan or anything but taijutsu?" Sasuke asked himself, confused. Kakashi was standing beside him and sighed, "She has her reasons."

"Come on, Kanami! You can win this easy!" Naruto yelled, cheering on his teammate. Hinata stood beside Naruto, poking her fingers together, silently cheering her teammate on, too.

The battle lasted 10 more minutes. Kanami and Sakura were both bruised and starting to wear out. Sakura was completely kept on the edge, just in case Kanami pulled out some crazy Uchiha fire thing. The fight finally ended with Sakura out cold on the floor and Kanami standing beside her. "Kanami wins!"

Cheers came from team 3 like thunder, everyone, even Hinata, cheered for Kanami's victory. Kakashi led Kanami away, which confused his team, but they were sure he had his reasons.

The next match was Shikimaru versus Yukina. Yukina had gotten a concussion and was knocked out after Shikimaru used the jutsu his clan was known for.

After that came a match between Choji and Shino. Shino had done some weird things wth his bugs and had eaten away Choji's chakra supply, making him deflate and lie in a daze on the floor.

"Next match Hyuuga Hinata versus Hyuuga Neji!" Hayate said, a bit interested in seeing a match that face 2 Hyuugas against each other, one from the Cadet branch and one from the Main.

Both Hyuugas faced each other, yards apart. Each in their Jyuuken stance ready to begin. "Begin!" Hayate said, backing out of the way. Neji looked over at the examiner, "I'd like to say something to Lady Hinata first." Hayate shrugged and Neji turned his gaze on Hinata.

"Hinata-sama, do you really think you have a chance? You are from the Main house and I am from the Cadet branch, but this does not matter, our level of strength is far from equal. Quit now before you get yourself hurt. Your personality is not suitable for a shinobi. You are not cut out for the rank of Chuunin. You will just embarrass yourself in front of your team and everyone else. Losers will be losers, and you are one of them. You will remain one of them. You'd be better off as a Genin." Neji said, glaring into the poor girl's eyes the whole time.

The Hyuuga heiress stared at her cousin, the truth hitting her hard. She soaked up every bit of his words, pain grabbed at her heart and her eyes began to water. She had never realized how cruel her cousin could be or how much he really did hate the Main house. He smirked at her emotional state, "Carry on and I won't hold back. I won't be responsible if you die because you did not forfeit. So what will it be? Give up now, saving time, embarrassment, and pain. Or continue the match, getting hurt and confirming your destiny of defeat."

Hinata stuttered and heavy tears filling her eyes. "I... I..." Neji smirked at her, expecting her to forfeit.

"You fool! You can't go and tell her what she can and cannot do! Beat his ass Hinata, show him what you're made of! Prove him wrong!" Naruto yelled, pumping his fist into the air. his words softened Hinata's worries and pain, inspiring her to do her best. Her tears disappeared and she slid back into the Jyuuken stance after activating her bloodlimit. "I will not run away...," she said with determination, "Cousin Neji, let's fight."

Neji's eyes hardened, "Fine. You won't be able to cause me pain or inflict any damage at all anyway. I can assure you of that." He activated his Byakugen and instantly developed the strategy to make a quick victory. Lee stood at the top of the balcony, explaining things to Hinata's team as the two Hyuuga fought.

Hinata and Neji were both in close range combat. Each using their clans fighting style. Open palms being deflected from their bodies, swift movements to try and land a blow. Both were fighting with grace and swift moves. Hinata blocked Neji's open palm directed at her chest and quickly thrust her right palm through Neji's defenses and struck him below the shoulder, knocking him back. She proceeded with a right hand attack to his chest. He easily caught her arm and poked her tenketsu point under her forearm. He proceeded with a devastating blow to her chest, releasing a great amount of chakra into her, causing her to cough blood all over his arm. He released her arm and delivered another gentle attack near her left shoulder and poked her with his left hand under her right arm. he smirked confidently as Hinata began to feel very weak and pain surging through her chest. He rolled up the sleeve of her jacket and she looked down at her arm, her eyes widening in shock. Every attack she had delivered had been useless...

She was knocked back by her cousin's strength and lied on the floor for a few seconds, hoping the pain would subside. Neji stood above her and looked down at her with a condescending expression, "This is the unchangeable strength between us. This gap is that separates the elite from the losers. You said you wouldn't run and all you did was set yourself up for regret. You're probably overcome with desperation by now."

Hinata turned over, off of her back, and onto her hands and knees, her back to her cousin. She coughed up blood onto the floor and began to stand up. Neji's eyes bore into her back, "Give up."

Hinata stood up fully and turned to her cousin, her eyes focused on Neji, "I... Don't go back on my word... That is my shinobi way, too." She looked up at Naruto, who had a slightly surprised and worried look, and smiled slightly. Small trails of blood stained her face. She clenched her eyes shut and gasped, doubling over, coughing up blood. She slowly looked back up at her cousin, a look of defeat in her eyes.

"You can do this, Hinata!" Naruto yelled, trying to help out his friend. Hinata's eyes then showed no weakness, only strength. She got back in her stance, _'Naruto-kun... I can't stand to look like a loser in front of you... I must try harder!'_ She rushed forward, lunging at her cousin with swift moves. Even though her chakra flow was halted, she could at least try to beat him in some other way.

They once again went into a furious combination of moves, Hinata's mind set on deflecting and dodging anything he sent at her. She had never had to fight without her Jyuuken style and now she was forced to. Her open palms curled into fists. It felt unusual to fight with a closed fist to the girl but she quickly found out what the meaning of it was. To beat the hell out of the opponent no matter what. He directed and powerful open palm under her chin and she managed to duck under it and he was open for an attack. She tried something she never had before, with all her might she launched herself head first into her cousin, slamming the top of her head into his side sending him a few feet back, landing hard on his back. She toppled over onto her front, her head aching like never before. She could hear groans from her cousin a few feet away. She smiled, she had managed to hurt him at least.

"WHOOO! Yea! Go Hinata!" Naruto screamed, ecstatic about Neji's pain. Hinata smiled to herself and began picking herself back up, hoping she could do it again. She heard a loud gasp escape from a few mouths above and looked up, only to meet extreme pain in her abdomen.

"You... Pathetic... Little... ARGH!" Neji yelled in anger as he watch his cousin fly into the air from his open hand attack to her chest. He proceeded with unexpected speed to phase out of sight and was instantly above the Hyuuga Heiress. He slammed his left palm into her gut, sending her hard back into the floor, the floor cracking a little under the force of the attack. Hinata gasped, pain engulfing her, blood spurting from her mouth.

Neji glared down at his cousin, anger pulsing through his veins. She had proved him wrong. He had been hurt and his ribs were hurting like hell. '_Se probably broke two of my lower ribs...'_ She had continued when the fight was clearly over. Her chakra was halted and she still pressed on and actually landed a forceful blow. He clenched his fist, "Your defeat was inevitable. The suffering you had experienced was worth nothing." He said coldly. He turned his back and began walking as soon as he was declared the winner. He froze as he heard a soft voice, barely above a whisper.

"You're wrong... Cousin Neji... I have... At least accomplished changing... A little bit. My suffering... wasn't worth nothing. You're suffering... and you're lost... within the destiny of the main and branch houses of our clan." Hinata said, barely getting her words through. Neji swiftly turned around, the intent to kill her was overwhelming and he ran back at her. Hayate yelled out for him to stop because the match was over. He was stopped by all of the Konoha Jounin instructors, except Asuma, and the examiner.

Gai began whispering into the Genin's ear and seemed to calm him down a bit. Hinata's eyes widened and she let out a stifled cough, blood spurting out onto her face. Kakashi had yelled for the medics to immediately give her treatment. They stated that if they didn't get her to the emergency room she would die soon. Naruto immediately landed beside her and took her hand, "Hinata! Hinata are you okay! Hinata!" Naruto yelled desperately as her eyes closed. Neji was being examined by other medical nins as they took Hinata away. Naruto glared at him and he smirked, "Hey, loser, if you really are a ninja, stop cheering in such important things. And one more thing, a loser is a loser, this cannot be changed." These words struck Naruto hard and his fist was clenched, he launched himself at him but was stopped by Lee. "I understand your feelings almost painfully well. But, whether a loser can defeat the elite is something to look forward to in the main test, though his opponent might be me. But even if it is you, no hard feelings."

Naruto grimaced, "Yeah, yeah... Alright." Lee gave his sensei a thumbs up, which he quickly returned. Naruto walked over to a puddle of Hinata's blood and looked at it. He ran his fingers through it, '_I promise you...'_ He looked up and made a fist, glaring at Neji. He held his fist up to Neji, his fist dripping with blood. "You... are going down!"

Everyone went back to the balcony. The last match was Lee vs. Kiba. A battle of strong, fast, and devastating taijutsu. There was a huge hole in the floor after Lee, Kiba, and Akamaru faced off in powerful taijutsu moves, driving each other further into the now forming crater. Lee eventually performed the Konoha Senpuu, rendering Kiba unconscious. It was the wrong Kiba, though, who turned into Akamaru. Lee performed the lotus later on after a sever taijutsu battle again, then Kiba was too beaten up and exhausted to go on. Lee was declared the winner.

Hayate stood on one of the few parts of the floor that wasn't too severely damaged, "The preliminaries are finally complete! To all of you who are going on to the third round of the Chuunin exams, congratulations! Although one is missing, we will go ahead and let Hokage-sama explain the rest!"

The Sandaime stood up with a smile on his face, everyone of the Genin going on to the third round were from Konoha except one. "Well... It's time to explain the main test. In the main event, your matches will be seen by everyone. You will be representing your country so I ask that you show off everything, holding nothing back. Which is why the finals will be held in... one month! This break will be for preparations. You can train or rest. Find out your opponents abilities. Many things you can do during this break. Also, this time is needed to arrange for the gathering of this event. You have been fighting against unknown opponents and this time can give you what you need to prepare to fight your opponent. Learn their abilities and weaknesses and such. Before you are dismissed, you will draw a number from the box Anko is holding. She'll come to you so no need to rush."

Anko went around to each of them and let them draw a number. The last number remaining was for Kanami. The Hokage began speaking again, "Okay, everyone look at the piece of paper and say your name as we call the number and we will mark it on the chart."

Ibiki held a notepad and called out the numbers. "Number 1" "Uzumaki Naruto!" "Number 2" "Hyuuga Neji." "Number 3" "Uchiha Keiko!" "Number 4" "Uchiha Sasuke" "Number 5" "Rock Lee!" "Number 6" "Aburame Shino." "Number 7" "Temari" "Number 8" Silence... "Number 8?" Silence... "Hmm... Number 9" "Nara Shikimaru."

"Okay, now, everyone, time to reveal to you the final tournament!" The Hokage exclaimed. Ibiki held up his notepad, showing a tournament schedule, placing them up against each other, decided by the numbers. "Okay, any questions?"

"Hokage-sama, so if this is a tournament, then that means only one can become Chuunin, right?" Shikimaru asked as if the whole thing was a hassle.

"No. There will be judges, such as myself, the Kazekage, and lords of various countries that will request missions and other ninja leaders, that will be watching the final test. They will be evaluating and seeing those that have the qualities to become Chuunin. And those that have the qualities will be able to become a Chuunin even if they lose their first match. Their is a possibility that everyone here could become a Chuunin. There is also the possibility that none of you will. To advance in the tournament just means you get more chances to appeal to the judges. If that is all, you are dismissed until one month from now!"

Naruto immediately looked at Sasuke. He might be facing him in the second round. And he was facing Neji first thing. Perfect. He had one thing to do, train. Both Sasuke and Naruto both took off in the same direction, both headed out to find their sensei who had went with Hinata.

----

A/N: Well. I hope that didn't suck. I wanted to get past this in one chapter. I hope that I didn't rush or leave anything out. I also want to say something else. Kabuto didn't take the Chuunin exams and he wasn't a spy. He was never a ninja of Konoha. He is Orochimaru's right had man and was doing whatever back at the village hidden in the sound. If that's what it's called... Anyway thanks for reading, leave a review please!


	9. War were declared

**Sorry for the really long wait. The really really long waqit, if anyone from before reads this.**

**Disclaimer- Don't own.**

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Naruto stared up at the night sky, gazing lazily at the twinkling stars. He sighed, tomorrow was the day he would fight Neji... His mind wandered off until a soft voice pulled him back to reality, "Naruto-kun... Are you still thinking of your match?" Kanami gazed up at him. He was lying on a branch of a nearly leafless tree. He turned his head to the side and looked down at her. Her long black hair was in a ponytail, her smile was bright, and her regular Uchiha attire she were was replaced by clothes that looked more comfortable, though, still emblazoned with the Uchiha crest. Her usual onyx eyes were replaced with the Sharingan. He stared at her eyes for a moment and looked away, "Why is your bloodlimit activated... By the looks of your clothes, it doesn't appear that you're training..." Kanami smiled and leaned back on the trunk of the tree, "Not physical training, really... Just training my chakra to be able to sustain the Sharingan longer. Ooh! I forgot, how was your training?"

Naruto stared up at the sky for a little while longer, "I got a lot stronger! I also learned a new jutsu!" He sighed, "I would have been better prepared if I would have been able to train with Hinata... Though her condition is okay now, she won't be back to normal for a while... I'll get Neji for hurting her like that!"

Kanami stared up at him for a while. His orange and blue baggy shorts and white tank top indicated he was resting his body for his match the next day. She soundlessly and effortlessly climbed the tree to Naruto's branch and sat against the trunk, looking at him. "Naruto-kun... I've learned a new technique, too!" Her gaze had now fallen to her right hand. "I made it myself..." Naruto now sat up, his full attention on her. Her Sharingan eyes displayed a sort of look that was both maniacal yet slightly afraid. "I worked on it vigorously this past month on my own... Unable to learn Kakashi-sensei's original technique, I left him and my brother and worked, until I collapsed, on my jutsu... It took me nearly this whole month to master it, too. Well... I haven't fully mastered it, but, with time, I believe this jutsu will prove to be a force that many will envy and others... Will fear..."

She glanced up at Naruto, his face showed a look of confusion, yet an expression of interest. "I can't show you now, though, you will see it tomorrow. I believe you can win, we'll both become Chuunin together, Naruto-kun!"

Her eyes gleamed in the moonlight and she shook her head and stumbled forward away from the trunk, keeping balanced on the branch. When she steadied herself, her Sharingan had left her eyes and there was a look of exhaustion on her face.

"Almost over did it... I'll see you tomorrow, Naruto-kun. Good night!"

----The next Day----

Naruto stood nervously at the training ground. This had been the place where Kakashi had tested him and his team. This was the place where he truly became a ninja. He stared at a wooden post used for training. He placed his hand on the smooth surface and pumped chakra into it. The post began to sizzle and pop. Loud cracks could be heard around it. Naruto grinned, the post exploded. This was something that Jaraiya had shown him. By using his chakra alone, he could begin destroying an opponent from the inside out. This seemed to be a cruel way to fight, so he didn't plan on using it during the Chunnin tournament.

He stared at the ground for a moment. Would he be able to summon Gamabunta? Would he be able to pull off anything against Neji? Neji was a fierce fighter, he was sure in his movements, and could stop the use of chakra. What could Naruto do without chakra? His chakra was the only thing he had going for him. Surely he would lose if he couldn't use his chakra. Naruto's grin fell and the boy stared solemnly at the ground. He looked in the direction of the stadium where he would be fighting. '_I'll win that fight, even if I have to summon the Kyuubi to do it!'_

_----_

The audience stared at the Chuunin-hopefuls from their seats in the stands. Naruto stared around, looking for Sasuke. Not even his sister has seen him since she left to train on her own. Some announcements were made, the Genin in the ring moved to there seats, except for the opponents of the first match.

Naruto stared at the Hyuuga prodigy for a moment, a surge of anger running through his body, "I'll warn you now, Neji, I have a plan for your weak techniques." Neji merely stared at the blonde with an air of boredom. "Big talk for a loser like you."He replied plainly.

"First fight: begin!"The referee announced, stepping back to watch. In an instant, Naruto formed a seal and had 10 clones surrounding him. Neji had his bloodlimit activated, his stance ready. All Naruto's charged with great speed, circling Neji. They each pulled out kunai, one for each hand, then dove to the middle. Almost immediately, each Naruto was repelled. Those that were clones, poofed after skidding across the ground. The real Naruto was left on his back, ten feet away from Neji, and was staring dumfounded at his opponent, who in turn, smirked.

Naruto jumped to his feet, formed twenty more clones, and charged once again. He wasn't about to lose, no way! A Naruto charged Neji, who easily dodged, and with a swift movement, the Naruto was no more. Neji laughed, "This will do you no good. Stop playing around and give up, you loser. This is a waste of my time." All Naruto's growled and charged. Neji moved swiftly between hem, softly attacking them as he went. He stood five feet away from them now, his back to them. Not a single one touched him. The Naruto's looked confused, then each one, almost simultaneously, coughed up blood and began disappearing, until only one was left. The real Naruto was now on the ground, his tenketsu points closed. Neji turned around and stared at Naruto, "Pathetic."

Naruto wearily looked up into the crowd and saw a horrified Hinata and a worried Kanami. '_No... This isn't the way it's meant to be. No... No...! No! NO! __**NO!**_ ' The boiling rage inside of Naruto, trapped inside of him with no vent, began to overflow. It pushed it's way through his blocked tenketsu nodes, and flowed around Naruto's body. The blonde stood, his whisker markings more deeper and darker, and stared at the Hyuuga prodigy. "I will not lose to you."

The blonde slowly moved forward, closer to his opponent. The people watching the fight were whispering about the red glow he was giving off. Neji charged with great speed, threw an open palm at Naruto, only to be dodged easily. Naruto swung his leg up to kick Neji in his gut, but the Hyuuga swiftly leaned back, narrowly dodging it. Bad move. Naruto, with his leg's momentum, threw the rest of his body up and slammed his other leg into Neji's chest. Neji gasped at the impact, but took no time to flip over on his back while kicking Naruto away. Neji's bloodlimit was now sharper than ever. "It's over, you're now in the field of my Hakke." Naruto looked at him confused.

"Gentle Fist Style, 64 Hands of Hakke." Neji launched himself "Hakke 2 hands" Naruto gasped, "4 hands," Neji's hands were now a blur. "eight hands, 16 hands, 32 hands, 64 hands!" Neji shouted as he performed his deadly technique. "Gaaahh!!" Naruto yelled, sliding across the ground on hs back. The demon's chakra had left the boy now. He stared at the bright blue sky. Why did the earth seems so cheery when he felt like he was dying? He coughed up blood and, with trouble, got to his feet.

"I won't lose after what you did to Hinata... I'll prove... That people can change... Get stronger... I'll become Hokage, then you'll know... Losers can become the best..." Naruto coughed, stared at his opponent, "You attacked Hinata mentally... Why? What purpose did you have of that...? You automatically decided... she was a failure. Pieces of shit like you that tell others they are nothing... I will never forgive.."

Neji slowly took off his head band, "You want an answer? Fine. If you'll go that far I'll tell you of the hatred between the Main and Branch families." Neji talked of the day he got his Seal, talked of his father, talked of how he was killed, and talked of how destiny could be decided by things as simple as being born first or second. "So, you see, as destiny was decided at birth, your destiny is to lose to me." Neji then charged forward unexpectedly and delivered a blow to Naruto's heart. The boy silently glided above the ground and hit a tree with a thud. Neji stared, was he dead? He put his forehead protector back on and turned around.

Naruto groaned and rolled over, his body taken over by pain. He thought his heart was busted, as he was just puking blood all over the ground. He grabbed on to the tree and pulled himself to his feet. With his back still to Neji he said, "Don't... run away... from me. I'm... not done with... you just yet." He coughed and turned around. " I can't lose to... someone always complaining about destiny."

Neji growled to himself and clenched his fists, "You could never know what it is like to wear a mark that you can never get rid of!" He stared at the ground angrily.

"More than you know... And so what? Others have suffered just as much as you! Now turn around so it won't be so easy to kick your ass!" Neji turned around and stared at him, "Why do you go against your destiny so much?" Naruto put his hands together and tried to summon the demon's chakra, "Because, everyone told me I was a loser." Naruto's points popped back open, his chakra spiked. He launched himself at Neji, intending to do as much damage as possible.

Neji used his Kaiten, spinning a field of chakra around him, but before Naruto hit he launched himself into the air. He pulled out two shuriken and threw them at Neji, who saw them, and plucked them right from the sky. Naruto dodged the shuriken, which Neji had just thrown back, and pulled out a kunai. He ran at Neji who also had a kunai in hand. The clashed their kunai together, Naruto delivered a blow to Neji's face with his fist and pulled back. He pushed his chakra throughout his body and charged his opponent. Neji barely had any time to react, "Kaiten!" BOOM! A clash of chakra surged, when the dust cleared, two holes were shown to the audience. Neji pulled himself out of one. Neji smirked, seeing an unconscious Naruto in a whole about 5 feet away. "Loser, told you that you were going to lose." Just then, he looked down and a fist collided with his jaw. While in mid-air, Naruto spun himself around and kicked Neji in his back, which sent him into a wall about 20 feet away.

Naruto kneeled down beside Neji, "I was a failure, but, now, my worst technique is my best. Destiny is changeable, so stop complaining." He walked away as he was declared the winner, then stopped, finally realizing the audience was roaring with cheers. He held up victory signs, and strutted across the battlefield as Neji was carried away. When Naruto got to the top of the stairs he was tackled by an over-excited Kanami. "That was great, Naruto-kun! You kicked his ass!" Hinata stood nearby, "You w-were awesome, Naruto-kun..." Hinata said softly.

The blonde laughed, "Thanks."

----

Keiko stood across from the just-arriving Sasuke. It was weird, she could feel this fight would be totally useless. Under his intense Sharingan gaze, she could feel an intensity that she had not felt from anyone before. What in the world did Kakashi do with this boy?

"You may begin," the proctor stated. Instantly, Keiko began using her most advanced GenJutsu she had ever known, if she could trick the Sharingan, if possible, she would beat Sasuke. So, layers were put on the battlefield even before the boy arrived, to try and throw him off. She launched herself around the arena, many clones of her dashing around also. The boy stood in the middle, not even in a stance yet. He glanced to the upper right, then to the lower left of the ring.

Was this possible? Her GenJutsu were struggling to stay stable. Layers melted down around her, every trap she had hoped would be overseen, was eliminated. The crimson eyes of Sasuke's dismissed all the Genjutsu clones. He glared at Keiko. She may be a clan member, but this was a match. He would beat her at her own game. He took a step toward her. She had her back pressed up against the arena wall. This was useless, she only knew the very _basics _of anything other than GenJutsu. It seemed, as the poor girl stared into the Sharingan eyes, that a white hot intensity was searing her mind. It looked as if Sasuke was walking to her, blazing in white flames.

The girl couldn't dismiss it, she knew it had to be GenJutsu, he wouldn't engulf himself in flames on purpose. But it was even too much for her to get the strength to dismiss it. Then she lost herself, she finally noticed that his Sharingan eyes were fully formed. The girl fell asleep.

"What a lame way to win," Sasuke whispered to himself, "having to put an _Uchiha_ asleep to avoid boring the crowd." The boy looked up, gazing at the audience, they seemed to not understand what had just happened. Sasuke was declared the winner, and he calmly walked up the steps. The crowd confusedly clapped, and Sasuke reached his team.

----

Naruto and the rest of the team stared at their now-arriving teammate. Hinata politely congratulated Sasuke, Kanami just stared at her brother as his Sharingan disappeared, but Naruto scowled.

"You dumbass, that was the lamest fight I've ever seen!" Naruto howled, pointing an accusing finger.

"Yeah well, considering you are still in one _piece_, I'll assume that you got lucky with your first match." The raven haired boy said coolly.

"At least I put on more of a show, all you did was glance around and scare that girl 'till she fainted. So much for all of the Uchihas being great!"Naruto said loudly.

"Just wait, you'll see, when we fight, I'll beat you to a throbbing pulp."Sasuke growled. By this time the next fight had started and Kanami had stepped between the two. Kakashi appeared then, in a wisp of leaves and wind, only to give a small wave. Naruto opened his mouth to say something but immediately turned to see where a massive chakra was pulsing in the ring.

----

"I'm not going to fall for your tricks! Your Kikai can't catch me!" Lee exclaimed, his weights gone and his skin dark red. He ran around the bug user with great speed, making a mini tornado. The captive did not budge. His glasses flew off his head, his hair was being pulled up, his baggy clothes billowing, but he refused to budge. The twisting only became more intense. His bugs began circling him to try and ease the tornado. The many Kikai that were dispatched looked like a black haze, being swirled in the wind. It was like a solid black force around the Aburame's body. A shield of protection. The outer shell started to become thin, those were the weaker Kikai. To Shino, many comrades were dying, he felt a terrible pain inside. He recalled his armies.

Within a blink of an eye, the blackness within the swirling wind was gone, leaving a young boy, arms outstretched and hands open. What was Shino to do? Lee seemed to have the upper hand here. Before anyone knew it, swarms of Kikai bugs had emerged from the ground around the arena. They launched themselves at Lee, hoping to catch him...

----

Naruto glanced around. He could feel that _something_ wasn't right. _Something _was about to happen. Then, before he knew it, a great drain of energy swept over him. He involuntarily drooped down, falling asleep. People around the arena were just starting to doze off. The shinobi stationed around the arena dismissed the sleeping jutsu, ready to defend themselves and their village.

In the confusion, shinobi were engaged in battles, far-off explosions could be heard. An intensity settled over the village.

Sasuke had easily dismissed the GenJutsu with his Sharingan and was now engaged with the three Sand Siblings. Kanami looked around and could see Sakura standing, confused, by her sleeping comrades. Hinata had also dismissed the Jutsu and was now kneeling over Naruto, releasing him from his forced slumber. When he awoke, Kakashi had delivered a deadly blow to his opponent and was now standing by his subordinates, his Sharingan revealed.

"It is time to go all out, you three. Wake up anyone you think can take care of themselves. We must defend the village with our lives, the people are depending on us. You three should join Sasuke and take out the other Genin while the Jounin take control of the arena." Kakashi wasn't about to waste any time, either, so he immediately engaged himself in another battle.

Naruto stood up straight, "Let's give it all we got!" The three of them charged, side by side, down the wall of the arena. Hinata's Byakugan was activated, as was Kanami's Sharingan. Naruto had already formed 10 clones that surrounded them. Sasuke was fending off attacks from the three Sand Genin when his friends abruptly took over. Naruto was already attacking the wall of sand from Gaara with all of his clones, Kanami was already working her Bloodline on Temari, perfectly in synch with the blonde girl. Hinata wasn't fooled by Kankuro's style, and easily disabled him with her Jyuuken style.

Naruto and Sasuke were brutally attacking Gaara's defenses. "Naruto, hold him off for a bit," yelled Sasuke as he jumped back and planted himself on the wall, deep in concentration. Kanami couldn't copy Temari for long, due to her lack of a giant fan, but could see her every move beforehand. Then, she made her mistake. She had not noticed Kankuro's unconscious body behind her, so when she had stepped back she tripped and began to fall. In this instant, Temari launched her fan with great force at Kanami. Kanami had barely any time to react, but was still not quick enough to get out of the way. To her horror, she saw Naruto's body appear before her, getting cleaved in the chest. The clone disappeared in a puff of smoke, and Kanami could see Hinata attack.

Before she could react, or even know she was hit, Hinata had already won. The swift movements had lifted Temari into the air, but was quickly brought back down by one final jab to her back. Hinata stood triumphantly over the semi-conscious body. Kanami felt a spike of killer intent coming from Gaara's direction, and barely had time as the cocoon he had formed shot numerous spikes of hardened sand through the arena. All of Naruto's clones were gone, and the real Naruto himself was entwined in the spikes, but none of them pierced his body. Kanami had also been lucky enough to get far away enough to be unharmed.

Kanami saw her brother on the wall, mouth wide open, his Chidori fading. She didn't understand why, for he was unscathed. Then a blood curdling scream of terror came from Naruto. The spikes had retreated, and Kanami then saw what had happened as Naruto rushed to Hinata's side. A feeling of dread pour through the whole team, as they watched Hinata fall back into her crush's arms. There was a gaping whole in her abdomen, around 2 inches in diameter from what Kanami could see. Kanami could feel her whole body trembling, her heart beating like a drum. She watched as Naruto leaned over Hinata, shaking her, trying to keep her conscious.

Tears of rage and sorrow poured down the Uchiha girl's face, and she knew it was time to test her jutsu. Sasuke had fired up his Chidori to a level he himself never thought he could attain. When he charged, so did Kanami. She could faintly see Naruto jump into the air, holding his fallen comrade, but not much. She was zeroed in on Gaara's cocoon, which was starting to take a shape. Kanami barely noticed herself forming the required seals, her Jutsu taking form. It was an original Jutsu, that only she knew how to perform. She was nearly there, as was Sasuke. Her hand flung out to her right, a dark aura emanating from it. Then, suddenly, the aura turned solid. The dark matter expanded as she pumped chakra into it. 5 more feet... 3 more... Sasuke was a bit behind her, which was good. She didn't want to kill him.

She plunged straight through the cocoon, one second she was on one side, the next second, the other. She couldn't hold her jutsu any longer, and released it. Her Sharingan faded from her eyes. Sasuke stood awestruck, his Chidori blazing in his hand. Half of Gaara was still there, the other was missing. The red headed ninja's eyes rolled back in his head, then fell to the ground. His arm, a large portion of his chest, and part of his neck and stomach were missing. There was no need to check, it was painfully clear he was no longer alive. Sasuke's Chidori faded from his hand, and he stared at his sister's back. She knew what lay behind her, and knew that if she looked back, she might retch.

----

Naruto landed in front of the hospital, holding his friend. It seemed that the place was already in a frenzy of chaos. "HELP! Please, my friend, she's wounded," screamed Naruto as he ran through the emergency room, holding Hinata. She seemed to be okay internally, or she would have died by now. But that wasn't what was worrying Naruto. she was losing blood, and fast.

A nurse finally heard his pleas for help, and quickly brought a stretcher. Hinata was quickly taken away, Naruto was left there in the hall. It was time for him to fight, or else the whole village would be in trouble. He ran outside, made a few hand seals, bit his thumb, wiped the blood on his other hand then slammed it to the ground. A seal formed where his hand was, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

A massive toad appeared, three times Naruto's size, with Naruto on his back. Naruto let out a fiendish grin, it was time for some payback. The toad seemed to understand that it was fighting time, and lurched forward. Naruto stood on the toad, anchored down by the chakra in his feet. They sped through the village at incredible speed. Naruto was throwing kunai with explosive tags wrapped on them at every group of sound ninja they passed. Naruto formed a seal, and 10 more toads with Narutos on their backs appeared, speeding around them. They all took off in different directions

All the Naruto's led out a ferocious roar, for their fallen comrade.

----

Kanami looked up as soon as she was finished binding the fallen enemies around them. She could have swore she heard a terrifying roar from some kind of animal. Could there be another demon attack on top of all this? She wondered...

----

Sasuke looked around the stadium, Sharingan working to it's limit. There didn't seem to be anyone else in the immediate, or even the surrounding areas. What was going on here? What was the purpose to this attack? He had to go find out. "Kanami, let's go! The rest will take over here," he yelled as he sped of in a blur.

They both flew through the village, tracking ninja and using secret Uchiha tactics to take them down. This attack seemed so unorganized, something has to give. He suddenly stopped, a loud crack could be heard over head. His sister and he looked up, seeing the Third's face carved in the mountain now had a large gash down it's face. That couldn't be good. Nevertheless, he continued on.

"Sasuke! We're being followed," he heard his sister's voice before a large smoke cloud consumed them. His Sharingan could see through it easily enough, but there were so many coming at them so fast, he didn't have time to react. Apprehended and bound, both he and his sister found themselves back to back, tied together. Their was an intricate pattern to the bindings, put together in layers, reinforced, and reinforced again. He couldn't move anything but his eyes. In fact, he could feel himself lose circulation in many places. He didn't show fear though, but he was concerned for his sister. He knew she must be afraid, despite her ninja and Uchiha training.

"Seems we caught ourselves some young Uchihas, a feat worthy of praise from Orochimaru-sama. He'll enjoy carving you guys up, harvesting your bodies," one ninja said, assumably smirking but his face was covered. Sasuke glared daggers at this man. Orochimaru, S-class rogue ninja, too dangerous to be messing with.

"Of course, he'll treat us as war heroes! The reward for Uchiha bodies, alive, was quite remarkable. We'll be living the high life as lords for quite awhile," another ninja said to his comrades. Mercenaries. Rogue ninja, by the looks of them. They all were different headbands, but shared a common interest. Money and killing.

"He never mentioned the conditions of them, " one man said with a chuckle, moving towards Kanami.

"Stay afway 'om 'er," Sasuke managed to say through his gag.

"Well, aren't you the chivalrous one," he heard a feminine voice say as she stepped out from behind a crowd of women. Sasuke's eyes widened. Anko!

She kneeled before him, and he wanted to spit in her face. That beautiful, treacherous face. His Sharingan blazed with a fury unseen, trapping her in the most intense Genjutsu he could muster. The next instant she fell to the ground shaking, drenched in sweat, her mouth bleeding for she bit her lip while experiencing that mind-blowing pain.

She was quickly helped up, and she looked at the ground, not daring to look him in the face again. "You little bastard," she gasped.

She suddenly pulled herself free of the men holding her and delivered a powerful kick to his jaw. "How could you idiots capture Uchihas and not remember to blindfold them, idiots!" She began screaming at the men, letting out her fury on them, and eventually knocked one of them out cold.

Sasuke's head finally stop spinning, and throbbed with pain. He could almost swear he didn't have a face after that kick. When people started surrounding them, to get their eyes covered, he attempted to laugh, but that was a mistake. His head started to spin with pain. He concentrated, trying to focus all his remaining chakra to his head. _Sister, it is time to unleash our most gifted jutsu. _The connection between the two Sharingan pairs was made, their chakra flowed to their eyes, and they began radiating with power.

The whole squad that captured them was caught in their Genjutsu. They unleashed every horrible, painful, most terrifying Genjutsu they ever learned and created onto them all at once, ravaging their minds with pain, terror, and confusion. They held it as long as they could, making their suffering prolonged, until, one by one, they began dropping. Their minds may never be the same, the Uchiha siblings mused. Anko was the last to drop, her resilience was quite amazing, she fought to the end. As much as Sasuke didn't want to admit it to himself, he was tired. In fact, so tired he thought he may never wake up, for he had fallen asleep before he knew it happened.

----

Naruto slammed his fist in yet another face, unwilling to give up. Surrounded by ninjas and constantly attacked, he was holding up nicely. He was battered and bruised, bleeding from various parts of his body, but was not seriously injured. His clones were holding up well, for only 3 had been destroyed so far as he could tell. An attack from behind, but Naruto appeared behind hs attacker, proceeded his move with a heel to the back of their head. it was time to escape, but to take them all down while he did it.

He let out a gasp of air as an uncontrollable chakra swept over him, blowing away enemies within his range. he then made some seals and wiped some of his blood on his hand, proceeding by slamming his hand into the ground and yelling, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Gamabunta appeared under him, confused. "Toad, I command you to squash these vermin!" Naruto yelled out, arms crossed. The toad roared with laughter, but did as he was told out of respect for Naruto's boldness. Naruto sat tiredly on the toad's back, catching his breath. "We need to do some recon, I don't know where my friends are..."

"Well then, we'll-" He was cut off by an explosion coming out from under him, so powerful it made him poof back to his world, leaving Naruto flying high in the air.

"That was one of ours, you idiot!" Naruto could faintly hear someone bellow from far below him. He seemed suspended in air as he slowly traveled upwards until he met the point where he could go no farther. Tumbling back to earth, Naruto suddenly realized the dire situation he was in. Could he survive such a fall, directly to the hard ground? Of course, he thought, he had to.

As the Anbu watched their ninja fall, they quickly devised a plan of rescue. They couldn't simply leave such a strong, formidable, promising ninja fall to his possible death.

Naruto's exhaustion finally got the better of him, and he closed his eyes.

------------------

**Ahm, well, It seems I have been gone for quite awhile, and I hope at least some of you guys still read fan fiction. Please excuse my extremely long period of, umm, writer's block. School has started again, just like last year, and for both summers I went away the whole time. I haven't been spending as much time with fan fiction or writing as I used to, and do not know if this should be continued. **

**If it is the will of the reader for it to go on, then perhaps a review and ideas for what should happen next could come my way.**

**Let me make one more thing clear, I know a lot of my readers from a over a year ago probably don't remember much, because neither do I. But, do not panic, things happen. Happy reading.**


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